The Monster Under the Bed
by StardustOwl
Summary: AU. Loki discovers his heritage as a child. In an effort to control him, Odin convinces him that he is nothing more than an undeserving, unlovable monster that Thor would hate if he knew the truth. After the Jotunheim invasion, Loki, his ever-convenient scapegoat, is exiled to Midgard. There, his new friends try to prove to him that Odin was wrong. Eventual Frostiron.
1. The Monster

_**Feel free to skip the author's note if they aren't your thing.**_

 _ **Mostly I just wanted to assure people before this begins that the apparent plothole to do with Loki's magic is not a plothole, and that all will be explained.**_

 _ **I also wanted to say I hope you enjoy this and happy reading :)**_

 _ **28/12/2017**_

 **Chapter 1 - The Monster**

"I think," Loki said smoothly as he guided the small group of frost giants through the paths of Yggdrasil, "you will find this a very fruitful endeavour."

"I have no doubts about that," the tallest, Hymir, smirked.

They emerged into the gold-plated corridor that led to the Vault. Wasting no time, Loki threw two daggers into the necks of the two Einherjar who were standing guard outside the door. Boredom had slowed their reflexes and they could do little more than gurgle in surprise as they dropped to the ground. Loki rendered their bodies invisible and checked that they were all still hidden from Heimdall's gaze. He sighed in relief, everything was going well so far, with luck he would not be executed for this.

Now for the hard part…

"It is through these doors," Loki said, retrieving his daggers and wiping the blood off carefully on the guards' clothes. "Be careful, move slowly, there may be enchantments that I do not know of,"

He turned away.

"Wait," Ymir called out, panicked. "Where are you going?"

"To distract Odin and buy us time," Loki lied, letting his hated blue skin fade away. He looked confidently at the frost giants, slipping on a mask of self-assurance.

"You are truly a gifted shape shifter," stated Hymir and Loki felt a flush of pride. He knew that such an ability was shameful, but he couldn't help the glow of happiness that grew in his heart at the words. He almost felt guilty at what he was about to do.

"Good luck!" Ymir smiled as Loki teleported away.

He reappeared just outside of the Throne Room and then made his way as quickly as possible to his place. He slid next to his mother who gazed at him angrily, lips thin in disapproval. He watched Thor tossing Mjolnir as he swaggered up the aisle. He didn't dare to look at the Allfather's expression. Loki just hoped that the unforgivable infraction of being late to Thor's coronation would be overshadowed by the jotuns sneaking into the Vault and Thor's inevitable overreaction.

Thor had made his way up the aisle and was now kneeling before the Allfather, who was saying something about Mjolnir's might and how it related to Thor's greatness.

"Do you swear to guard the nine realms?"

"I swear!"

"Do you swear to preserve the peace?"

"I swear!" Thor cried as Loki barely surpressed the urge to roll his eyes. Thor was never the type to pass up a chance of battle. That was why what he was doing was important. That was why he was risking everything to stop this.

But what was taking them so long Loki wondered, his heart racing. Yes, he had told them to take their time, he had needed to get back to avoid suspicion after all, but this plan would all be in vain were Thor to actually become king. If Thor were to become king he would only have made the situation worse. If Thor were made king, did he have time to get back to the Vault and stop them?

"Do you…" Odin trailed off and the room suddenly felt very quiet, very tense. Loki began to hope again. "Frost Giants!" Odin declared, slamming Gugnir into the ground. Loki felt a flash of guilt at the thought of his temporary allies (all of them had been strangely kind once he had gained their trust and had had surprisingly good senses of humour for monsters) but he quickly suppressed it.

Loki knew he was a monster, and the only way he could make up for that was by carrying out Odin's word.

He wondered, not for the first time, if going so strongly against his will was a good idea, before assuring himself that however much this might be seen as a betrayal, Thor could never carry out Odin's will the way he was at the moment. Looking at Thor's outraged face he knew that Thor could not yet be the King that Asgard needed.

-M-

 _Loki stared down in horror at his dark blue arms. Where once his skin had been pale and smooth it was now dark with strange raised lines._

 _He stumbled towards his mirror and let out a cry of anguish. His face was the same shade of blue and the complicated lines adorned it too. But the worst thing about his new appearance was his eyes. They had been a beautiful deep emerald but now, now they were a horrifying, monstrous red._

 _Loki screamed in anguish. What had he done?_

 _Father and mother will know what to do, he thought. He gathered up his spell book on shapeshifting and stumbled down the passage that connected his chambers to his parents' ones._

 _"Help!" he cried, shoving the door open._

 _In his terror he didn't see Odin's expression change from surprise to horror and disgust._

 _"Father, help, I don't know…I don't understand what I've done…It wasn't meant to change me into a monster!" he raced forwards, wanting to be held in his father's arms. His father had always been more reluctant to hold him than his mother, but his mother wasn't here, and he was sure he wouldn't deny him this, not when he was feeling so distraught._

 _"Loki, stop," his father said coldly. Loki froze, shocked at his father's tone, and gazed up at him in confusion. "Stay where you are."_

 _"But father I-"_

 _"Silence!" he stared down at Loki in disgust. "What have you done?"_

 _"I…I…" Loki choked. "I was practicing a shapeshifting spell…I wanted to turn into a snake…but then I felt something break and instead I turned into this! Please, please turn me back, I don't want to look like a monster!"_

 _Odin stared at him for a minute, a calculating expression on his face. "Loki, you are a monster."_

 _The silence echoed._

 _"What?" Loki cried. "No, no this isn't me! Change me back, change me back! Get mother, she'll know what to do!"_

 _"It is you Loki," the Allfather said calmly. "You are a frost giant."_

 _"No, no, I'm not!" he sobbed. "I'm not like them, I'm Aesir, I don't eat children! Turn me back!"_

 _"Cease your crying this instant," Odin commanded while Loki shook his head, refusing to believe his father's words. "You are a frost giant, Loki, you are a monster. However, I will turn you back, just so I don't have to look at your hideous form for longer than I need to!"_

 _"Thank you," Loki breathed, shuddering and trying to stop crying. Odin placed a hand on Loki's head and Loki could feel the familiar magic washing over him, he hadn't even realised it had been there until his spell had accidentally removed it._

 _"There," his father said at last. Loki sighed in relief, the horror draining away, and tried to hug him. Odin snarled, shoving him roughly and he fell to the floor. "Do not touch me Loki. You know now what you are, of the monster you hide within you. You cannot think that you are worthy to touch me!"_

 _Loki struggled to his feet, the rejection hurting perhaps more than anything else he had felt that afternoon. But…if his father didn't want him anymore…what about Thor, what about his mother? "Please don't, please don't tell Thor, please don't tell Mother that I'm a monster!" Loki begged, tears streaming down his cheeks._

 _The Allfather lay a heavy hand on his shoulder, a mockery of comfort, of caring. "Well, as long as you are a very good boy and obey me, and stop your evil tricks and your magic, I see no reason why I should let them know that you are a monster,"_

 _Loki drew in a shaky breath and nodded, he could do this, he had to be able to do this, he could not lose Thor. "Yes father, thank you father, I will…" he cried out as Odin's fingers pressed into his collar bone._

 _"I am not your father, not when we're alone and there's no longer any need to pretend you are what you're not," said Odin icily and Loki nodded mutely. "Good. Now get out of my sight."_

 _Loki fled, the spell book lying forgotten on the floor. Odin picked it up, smiling grimly. The situation, he thought, could have gone very badly, but hopefully now Loki would be easier to control._


	2. Outcast

**_Some of the dialogue in this chapter is taken from the film, however this should be the last time in this fic that I take dialogue directly from the film._**

 ** _I hope you enjoy the new chapter!  
_**

 ** _06/01/2017_**

 **Chapter 2 – Outcast**

Loki shook as he looked around at the frozen wastes of Jotunheim.

He had not planned for this.

What had possessed Heimdall to allow Thor to pass? Heimdall, ever loyal to the crown, had betrayed Odin's command and let them come to Jotunheim. Why?

Thor laughed as he strode off towards the collapsing stone structures, already anticipating a bloody but victorious battle, one told of at grand feasts for years to come. Loki was anticipating the look on Thor's face when he inevitably touched a frost giant in the coming battle. He imagined how Thor would react to the monster he had called brother for so long.

Over the last 800 years he had thought a lot about what Thor would do if he knew, and Odin was always ready to drive the point home, to remind him how much Thor would hate him, every time Loki displeased him – which was often.

Still, he kept pace with his older brother, despite lingering a few steps behind him so he wouldn't disrupt Thor's conversation with the Warriors Three and Sif (he didn't want Thor to find him more irritating than he normally seemed to) and because his mind was racing, head feeling like he was floating, and his limbs threatening to give way with panic.

A few minutes into the walk (though it could have been hours the way he was aware of his surroundings) he thought one of the Warriors Three might have said something to him, but he was too disorientated to figure out what it was.

The world gradually fell back into focus again as they neared the stone structure. He could make out the shadows of frost giants, watching, waiting from behind the crumbling walls.

"You've come a long way to die, Asgardians," the frost giant seated on the throne, Laufey, taunted. It occurred to Loki distantly that this was the first time he'd seen his biological father in almost a thousand years. His monstrous blue features, sharp pointed face with strange, hideous lines, resembled Loki's own. Loki wished more than ever that they had never come to Jotunheim, that he had stayed behind and dealt with being taunted for his cowardice for the next century. He kept close attention to the deteriorating conversation however, knowing that his diplomacy could be the only thing that would get them out of a futile battle. He cringed when Laufey alluded to traitors in the house of Odin. 'Traitors' meaning himself, he was sure. Luckily, Thor hated the frost giants enough to brush the taunt aside, not even considering that it might hold even an element of truth. "You long for battle, you crave it," Laufey was saying. "You're nothing but a boy, trying to prove himself a man."

 _Well, he's not wrong,_ Loki thought drily.

"This boy has grown tired of your mockery," Thor said and Loki cringed. Time to at least try to put an end to this before it escalated further.

"Thor, stop and think. Look around you," he said quietly with an air of desperation which had nothing on what he really felt. "We are outnumbered-"

"Know your place, brother!" Thor snapped and Loki fell silent, resisting the urge to laugh bleakly. He knew his place, knew of his worth next to Thor, he was far more aware of it than Thor was and hopefully ever would be. The only reason that he was here, still pretending to be a prince of Asgard, was to keep up appearances. The people couldn't know Odin had raised a frost giant as his son, they would revolt and the stability of Odin's reign would be lost. Such a rebellion would be all Loki's fault, and Loki needed to be grateful to Odin for treating him better than he deserved, for saving him from dying in Jotunheim, so he needed to do his duty and protect Odin's position.

Laufey chuckled with the cynicism of someone who had seen the very worst of the world and Loki recognised that tone in himself. Something that made him feel vaguely sick. "You know not what your actions would unleash. I do. Go now, while I still allow it,"

Loki jumped in before his brother could ruin everything beyond repair. "We will accept your most gracious offer," he bowed slightly and backed away, hoping Thor, whatever he may have thought of him, would follow his lead.

"Run back home, little princess," a frost giant sentry unwisely taunted and Loki knew the situation was beyond saving.

As it turned out one of the frost giants did manage to grab him. He was prepared and stabbed it before it had even realised what had happened. He glanced around, none of the others seemed to have noticed anything amiss so he returned to the battle, shaking slightly, but whether it was from revulsion or relief he didn't know.

Finally, finally, the Allfather arrived to rescue them, but not before Thor had recklessly dived through the throat of a Jotunheim beast and it was too late to sway Laufey from declaring war on the Aesir. Loki felt ill at such a prospect but at least Thor did not yet know what manner of creature he was.

"Get him to the healing rooms, now!" Odin commanded as soon as they had returned (ignoring Thor's demands to know why they had been brought back) and Sif and the Warriors Three swiftly left the Bifrost.

Then the Allfather rounded on Loki.

"What have you brought upon us?" he demanded. "Do you realise what you've done?"

Loki froze in terror, his famed silver tongue seemed to work on everyone except Odin. He would believe what he liked. Loki had realised early on that nothing he would say could ever change the Allfather's mind, he just had to hope that he would be merciful. Besides, he was wiser than Loki could ever hope to be, and was usually right. Often Loki did not realise that what he had done was wrong before Odin explained it to him. Sometimes, he knew what he was doing was wrong, but he did it anyway, because he felt it needed doing. Afterwards, it generally became clear that it had not, in fact, needed doing, and there were better paths Loki could have chosen.

"You have brought an end to a peace that has reigned for a thousand years, and for what? Were you jealous of Thor? Surely you have realised by now that he in every sense surpasses you and you could hope to gain nothing from this?"

"Father," Thor began, looking uncharacteristically concerned. Even Thor, with his infallible oblivious could see that something was amiss in this situation. Loki shivered, usually the Allfather was more careful with the words he used in front of Thor, careful to preserve the illusion. Clearly, he was nothing less than incensed today.

"Thor, this is between your brother and I," the Allfather stated, sounding only marginally calmer, putting a slight emphasis on 'your brother' in a way that Loki did not like at all. "Go with your friends and see Fandral to the healing rooms."

Loki didn't know whether to be grateful or not. On the one hand Thor was leaving and so he would not discover that Loki was a monster. On the other he would be left alone with Odin.

"I refuse," Thor stated. "Father, he has done nothing except try to talk me out of this failed battle. It was I who decided to take just revenge on the Jotuns."

Odin laughed drily and Loki paled, shrinking on himself further. He knew that laugh well. "He did, didn't he? Thor can you not see that it was your brother's manipulations that led you to Jotunheim?"

Thor stared at his father, clearly confused.

"Heimdall tells me he was unable to see you until moments before the ceremony. He finally caught sight of you right before the frost giants tried to steal the casket."

At these words Loki knew beyond question that he was doomed.

"I didn't-" he tried to argue but Odin cut him off.

"Are they your people Loki?"

To Thor it probably sounded like a simple rhetoric, but Loki caught the double meaning.

"No! Never, of course not father!" Odin growled at this, but as ever Loki was unsure how he was meant to address him otherwise in front of Thor. "I would never, you know that all I ever try to do is please you!"

"Do you?"

"Yes!"

Odin laughed suddenly, looking tired, placing the sword into the Bifrost. As the lightning began to crackle around the room Loki was frozen to the spot. What was he going to do, throw him back to Jotunheim? The monsters would tear him apart! "Loki, I have had enough of your lies, your betrayals, and I have no need of you in the coming war." He could feel the power of the Allfather build and he braced himself for whatever Odin decided to throw at him. "I, Odin Allfather, take from you your power! In the name of my father, and his father before!" Loki screamed in agony as his magic was ripped from him through the Odinforce. "And I cast you out!" he declared and threw Loki back through the Bifrost. The last thing Loki heard before he fell was Odin's ominous assurance: "I will deal with you properly once I have dealt with this war."

Then he was falling, falling, falling, and stumbling and suddenly something very large and heavy slammed into him and he was knocked to the ground. He lay dazed and listened to the indistinct sounds about him.

"Do me a favour and don't be dead." He vaguely heard someone's voice above him and he forced himself not to fall into unconsciousness, doing his best to ignore the agony from his missing magic and the clumsy spell that severed his access to it that still rushed through his being. He needed to know where he was, it would not do for the first thing he did on arrival to a new realm to be captured by unknown creatures.

Loki raised his head and looked blearily around.

 ** _So, I hope you enjoyed the chapter._**

 ** _I would just like to bring to your attention that the wonderful (and super talented) LordRebeccaSama of AO3 has written an AU of the first chapter of this AU in which Frigga is in the room when Loki comes running in crying and shuts Odin down so hard and comforts Loki and it is beautiful._**

 ** _So, if you have time (and have left reviews, and followed and favourited - if you would like to) and are looking to read something a bit happier containing a super-awesome badass Frigga may I direct you to:_**

 _ **archiveofourown ( ) works / 13272255 (hopefully this shows up)**_

 _ **Because it is amazing and I am still seriously freaking out!**_


	3. Deceit

_**I apologise for the longer than usual A/N, please skip if you so wish.**_

 _ **I have dedicate this chapter to NightStarlightWolf, without whom this chapter would never have been published. About a week and a half ago I realised that there were some serious plotholes in the chapter and a load of stuff just wasn't going to work so we sat down on her sofa and worked through it. She was amazing!**_

 _ **I'm from the UK so sorry in advance as I've not really got much of a clue how ER works. All I have to base this on is my one experience in A &E with a thankfully-not-broken arm and that I know you have to pay in the US. **_

_**Also, I know they call Jane's van a car in Thor (which confuses the hell out of me), sorry, I have used car for the speech, but sometimes I used van as I think it makes sense and calling Jane's vehicle a car makes zero sense to me. On Ao3, someone commented that Jane's van/car/who knows? would be considered a jeep. In the UK it wouldn't be but do you guys agree that it would be in America? And so should I change it to jeep?**_

 _ **That's all, thank you for all so, so much for the follows, favourites and reviews, and enjoy!**_

 _ **13/01/18**_

 **Chapter 3 - Deceit**

"I'm not dead," he gasped out.

"Oh…that's good," the woman above him assured him. They stared at each other in silence for as few moments as another woman crouched down beside him, muttering something about having a 'first aid kit' and missed 'CPR' opportunities, and a middle-aged man hovered in the background.

"How are you feeling? You gonna be okay? 'Cause saying we were storm chasing isn't really gonna cut…" the second woman started before the other muttered across her about how advancing something called astrophysics is _not_ storm chasing. The second woman rolled her eyes in response. "Whatever, it's storm chasing. I'm Darcy by the way, and you are?"

Loki's body may have been spasming in extreme pain, but he was nothing if not polite. "A pleasure to meet you, Darcy, I am Loki…" he trailed off, at least formally he had always been the son of Odin, but now? He had no idea. Loki of Asgard? Of _Jotunheim_? "And I will be fine. I have had worse injuries, but thank you for your concern,"

All of them seemed slightly shocked, but he caught some dry comment about that being unsurprising if he liked running into storms for fun from the man.

"Oh my god, what are those!" the first woman exclaimed. She waved some device that gave off a concentrated beam of light around the Bifrost site, looking awestruck. Loki stared at it in fascination, it wasn't magic, or at least he was fairly certain it wasn't, there was no way to tell without his own. "Where's my camera? I need to record these before they get covered in sand,"

Loki stared at her in confusion. Surely Bifrost markings were common enough that everyone had at least heard a description or seen a diagram?

"These are the markings of the Bifrost," he stated, hoping to jog her memory, and the woman looked at him in shock.

"You know about them? You need to tell me everything,"

Loki looked at her in surprise. How had she not heard of the Bifrost?

"Jane, you just hit him with your van, he needs a hospital, not an interrogation," the man chided.

"Besides, I'm pretty sure this is just some weird religious thing," Darcy stated, an untrusting expression directed at Loki.

"No," Jane said passionately. "This is a scientific phenomenon. You just saw all the lights in the sky, this could be the breakthrough we need. This could be the thing that stops the entire scientific community looking at me like I'm crazy!"

Loki was pretty sure Darcy muttered something along the lines of 'you _are_ crazy', and perhaps he would have laughed, were he not trying to figure out why Jane was so fascinated about the effects of the Bifrost, and why people thought she was crazy for studying it, surely its effects had been well documented.

Then it hit him.

He was on Midgard.

Nicely tucked out of the way, no way to contact any of the other realms.

Even worse though, this was the realm that the frost giants had invaded all those years ago. Who knew what they would do to him once they found out that he was one of those monsters that had threatened to plunge the mortal world into an age of ice? He resolved that they would never find out. It couldn't be too difficult, could it? Mortals were particularly stupid creatures, and he had managed to fool the whole of Asgard for 800 odd years.

Admittedly, they did look different to when Loki had seen them almost 500 years ago now (Thor had convinced him to come on his quest. The Allfather had made sure that Loki had regretted it) and they had some strange contraption that focused light into a strong beam. He was certain they had been using fire to see in the dark last time he had been here. Loki hoped that they weren't as backwards and savage as the rest of the worlds believed. Of course they were not and never had been as savage and evil as the frost giants, otherwise Odin would have seen no need to protect this realm.

Suddenly, he realised that one of the mortals was talking to him. "… you can stand?"

"Are you crazy?" the man demanded. "You're not meant to move someone who's been in an accident!"

"You just said he needed to go to the hospital Erik! How else are we meant to get him there if we don't move him?" Darcy shot back, sounding exasperated. "And he seems to be doing okay, right Loki?"

"I think, I could stand," Loki agreed, taking a deep breath, preparing to haul himself to his feet.

"Great!" Darcy grinned and offered him a hand, he took it warily and she tried to pull him, unsuccessfully, to his feet. "Damn you're heavy,"

Loki almost laughed, if she thought he was heavy she should try to lift Thor. Loki was light, too light for an Asgardian, though he supposed that came from trying to avoid going into the Great Hall for meals whenever possible. As a supposed Prince he was expected to sit at the high table and eat with his family. Loki found he felt distinctly out of place when trying to avoid Odin's gaze or his low-voiced comments as to whatever Loki was deficient at whenever Frigga or Thor weren't around. Getting food delivered to his rooms was considered lazy, and he didn't deserve the servants wasting their important time delivering food to the likes of him. Of course, Loki had tried to get food directly from the kitchens, but after a particularly nasty incident before which Odin had pointed out that although the kitchen staff were actually above his station no one needed to know that and that his presence was disgracing Odin's family, Loki decided that the kitchens were off limits.

"Are you okay?" Darcy questioned and Loki looked up at her in shock, thinking that he needed to be more careful hiding his emotions. Usually, he was good at it, but the events of the last day had shaken him.

"I am fine, thank you Darcy," Loki replied.

"Cool, just you kind of spaced out there for a while," Darcy told him. "Are you good to try again if Jane helps?"

He nodded and after she had pointedly glared at Jane for a few seconds and poked her with her foot (Jane turned around from behind her camera and glared back up at her) Darcy tried to haul him to his feet again, Jane grabbing him under the arms to help him up.

Loki almost collapsed on top of Darcy, his shaking limbs barely able to hold him upright. Leaning slightly on the both of them however he managed to just about find his balance.

"We should move before he collapses," Jane said and she and Darcy practically dragged him into what might have been a house, or perhaps (he noted the things that were likely to be wheels) a carriage or caravan with some way to attach horses that he couldn't yet see.

A few minutes later found Loki sagging against the wall on some kind of seat that Jane had folded down and Darcy searching through various crates for some water.

Jane jumped up into the driver's seat and looked back at them expectantly. "Hey, did he say where he'd parked his car?" she questioned.

Loki looked at her blankly, half-asleep and in a haze of pain. "What's a car?" he said before he could stop himself.

Jane looked at him in shock and then she stuck her head out the door.

"He says he doesn't know what a car is!"

"What?" he heard Erik shout back.

"Can you see a car anywhere?"

"No, it's pitch black out here, I can't see anything!" he complained.

Darcy stood up and leaned out of the door too. "Just leave it, we can get it in the morning if he remembers, I'm cold and I want to get back to my ipod!" her voice quietened and she turned to Jane. "Who says he came here in a car anyway?"

"Oh he just walked 40 miles out here by himself did he?" Jane argued, and Darcy frowned.

"Hey dude, how did you get here if you didn't drive?"

"I…" Loki thought quickly. He had no idea of what modes of transport were common here. Time to improvise. "I don't know…"

"How hard did you hit him with the car?" Darcy exclaimed and Jane looked horrified.

"Oh god, what are the signs of concussion…dizziness…um…pupil sizes…Darce check his pupils!"

Darcy grabbed him and looked into both of his eyes, Loki felt slightly uncomfortable. Perhaps he should have said he had ridden a horse, he was sure he remembered Midgard having horses. "They look okay…how many fingers am I holding up,"

"Three?" Loki replied in confusion.

"What's happening?" Erik asked, climbing up into the front next to Jane.

"Erik, you're right, we're gonna need to go to the hospital," Jane grimaced, looking guiltily at Loki and turning the key in the ignition.

Loki dozed off sometime during the journey, despite his own sense of foreboding at falling asleep in a 'car' full of strangers, having no idea what a 'hospital' was and against Darcy's advice that one should never sleep with concussion. The exhaustion of having his magic ripped out of him was too strong and so Loki was unable to keep his eyes open for long.

-M-

Tony practically fled down to the safety of the workshop on return to his Malibu home.

Avengers Initiative?

Tony Stark 'no'?

He'd brushed the pain aside with a few quips, but the fact was that it hurt.

Who did SHIELD think they were anyway? Sending 'Natalie' in to spy on him like that, collecting information on him.

Ugh.

They even knew his dad better than he had (not that that was unusual exactly), and that bothered him.

As much as he hadn't wanted to work with SHIELD, now that that chance was taken away he had to admit that it had felt nice to be considered for a team of superheroes. Well, he didn't play well with others, so he didn't need to join a super-secret boy band anyway, he could do his solo act just fine thank you very much. Apparently, according to Pepper (who had berated him multiple times for not telling her that he was dying), he didn't need to suffer through things alone. The trouble was that that was what he had been doing all of his life, and how were you _meant_ to tell someone that you were going to die? Besides, he'd had Jarvis, he'd been doing okay.

Despite the fact that he knew that SHIELD had saved him, his blood still boiled at their attempts to manipulate him and their invasion of his privacy. The fact that he'd let Natalie…Natasha, whatever, that close to him and into the company bugged him, and he was reminded uncomfortably of Obie. He'd thought at last he had seen an end of the people who would seem to be on his side, to genuinely like him or at least tolerate him, when instead they were working with others behind his back. But, apparently not.

Suddenly an idea occurred to Tony. They'd invaded his privacy, and had withheld stuff that technically should have belonged to him, why shouldn't he do the same to them?

"Jarvis," he announced dramatically, taking a swig of his coffee (and wasn't it wonderful to be drinking something that wasn't chlorophyll for a change). "New project:"

-M-

Darcy shook him awake when they arrived at the hospital. It was a strange building Loki mused as he stumbled out of the van, all white and metallic, with bright lights surrounding it that seemed to be more powerful versions of the one Jane had held earlier. There were a lot of other machines that looked similar to the one they had travelled in parked outside the building, but no horses to be seen (he supposed it was a good thing that he hadn't said he'd ridden to the Bifrost site on a horse then).

The shaking had gone down and Loki found he was able to stand on his own now. It was something to be grateful for, he supposed, even if he did still feel incredibly ill due to the loss of his magic.

They led him into a bustling room and over to a desk.

"Name?" a woman asked and Loki suddenly wondered why he had been brought here, and what exactly a hospital did. With an increasing sense of panic he realised that after Jane and Darcy's concerns about a head injury it was probably the Midgardian version of the healing rooms. He cursed Odin's spell for the exhaustion and agony that had made his thoughts so slow. Who knew what technology they had. What if they scanned him? The Soul-Forge couldn't tell that Loki was a frost-giant, but what if they had something that did? What would they do with him then?

"He said his name's Loki…I'm not sure about a surname," he could hear Jane saying uncertainly, and then remembered that the woman had, in fact, asked him a question.

"Loki Odinson," Loki affirmed, snapping back into the present. Although Odin might not be happy with him claiming that he was his son at the moment, it was the name he had used all of his life and it ruled out the possibility of forgetting one he had made up. Besides, he was as-of-yet unsure as to Midgardian naming customs, so making up a name would be unlikely to have any benefit.

After telling her (three times) how to spell his name…and of course there were records of him on the 'system'…no he didn't know why she couldn't find them…no he wasn't lying, and Jane affirming that he had indeed been in a potentially serious accident, and maybe if he was lying he didn't know it…he could have changed his name and not remembered doing so (during this the queue behind them became quite long), they were eventually told to go wait in a waiting room for a doctor who would see him.

They sat down in a corner of the waiting room on some very uncomfortable chairs made out of a substance he was unfamiliar with. Loki felt trapped, he wanted to run, but knew nothing of Midgard and had no idea of where might be safe. Jane sat down beside him, a book clutched under one arm.

"So, the markings, you said they were from a…"

But Loki heard no more, despite the seriousness of the situation, the pain and exhaustion overwhelmed him again and he fell back into unconsciousness.

-M-

Sometime later he was shaken awake to find that he had fallen asleep on Jane's shoulder. He shot up and then fell against the wall, feeling the dizziness hit him. He winced in embarrassment at the thought of falling asleep on a stranger's shoulder. He wasn't sure of the customs here but Odin would have been most displeased, and Frigga would have fixed him with a gaze of disapproval at his lack of etiquette (which would have hurt far more than whatever Odin decided to do to him).

"What's…?"

"You've been called into one of the consulting rooms to see a doctor." Jane explained. "Would you like us to come with you or?"

Loki nodded, it would undoubtedly be easier with them present.

He stumbled over to the door that an obnoxiously smiling man was holding open and down into the chair that the man directed him to after a few pleasantries that passed in a blur.

"Are you all staying in the room?" the man asked, and the response must have been positive because he sighed and said: "Okay then…what seems to be the problem?"

Loki explained how he had been hit by their car and the doctor proceeded to examine him, checking his eyes and feeling his head. He also inspected the rest of Loki's body to make sure that nothing was damaged that he was unaware of due to the shock.

"I mean, I can put you through to x-ray but everything seems to be in order," the doctor sighed, looking confused while Loki wondered what 'x-ray' was, and was secretly glad that he didn't have to be put through it. This experience was nerve-wracking enough. "Apart from extreme fatigue, which will have been worsened by your obvious malnourishment, I don't see why you're here," Loki could hear the others muttering frantically behind him. "I recommend eating more than you are now, don't massively increase your portion sizes immediately as your body will react against that, but you definitely don't need to worry about counting your calories. If you ask Linda on the front desk she can give you information on eating disorders." Loki almost rolled his eyes; he had no idea what an eating disorder was, but he had given up trying to convince the doctor he ate a fine amount, thank you very much, five minutes ago. "Definitely try to get as much sleep as possible, pay a visit to the pharmacy if you think you need to buy something to help you sleep."

Loki sighed in relief as they finally filed out of his office and made their way back to the entrance. He was glad that the visit had seemed to go reasonably well and that no one had found out that he was from another realm.

Jane stopped to talk to the woman at the desk and Loki looked around uncomfortably. Darcy picked up a leaflet that was sitting near the desk and tried to hand it to him. On seeing that it talked about what the doctor seemed to think he was suffering with Loki rolled his eyes and brushed it away. Darcy raised her eyebrows challengingly and Loki gave a half-smirk, too tired to really be bothered by it.

"So, I'll send the bill to your address," the woman said.

Jane nodded. "Thanks, I'll…"

"You have to pay to be healed?" Loki demanded, shocked and only half aware that he'd actually said it out-loud before Jane looked at him with a longsuffering expression.

The woman behind the front desk snorted. "What exactly happened to you again?"

"Okay, time to go," Darcy said under her breath and dragged Loki towards the exit. Loki wanted to ask more but realised he might have hit on some sort of cultural taboo he should stay away from.

"So," Erik said as they stood outside. The warm amber light of dawn could be seen starting to peak over the buildings surrounding them. "Where are you heading?"

"He's coming with us," Jane stated, almost before Loki had had any time to panic about what he was meant to answer that with.

"Are you crazy, Jane?" Erik replied. "We don't even know who he is, we don't have a spare room,"

" _He_ doesn't know who he is," Jane pointed out. "And we'll manage. Besides, he knows about the markings in the desert,"

"Jane, as much as I hate to agree with Erik, if he knows what the markings are why doesn't he know where he's from, or how he got there, and why did the doctor claim that his head was fine? No offense dude," she added to Loki.

"Darcy, you know how much this project means to me,"

"Exactly, and I know what crazy stuff you'll do to complete it!" she sighed. "But Erik, Jane's right, he does have nowhere else to go, we should help,"

"I really don't like this idea, Jane," Erik muttered and Loki reflexively leaned slightly towards Darcy.

Jane looked at the three of them, her face set. "I need to know about the markings."

Two minutes later, Loki found himself in the back of the car again, feeling more than slightly unwelcome, but safer than he had done in a while. A short while later he drifted back off to sleep.

 ** _Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!_**

 ** _Next up:_**  
 ** _We flash back to Loki's childhood, a few decades after the discovery of his heritage. Thor is cute and oblivious and Loki...well, let's just say Odin gets worse._**  
 ** _And Frigga reacts to Loki's banishment. Odin beware!_**


	4. Loss

**_A/N: If you have recently lost a baby/child, reading the third part of this chapter may be inadvisable, I don't want you to read anything that might upset you._**

 ** _Thank you all for the follows, favourites and reviews, you guys make my day!_**

 ** _P.S. I hope you all like Thor, I felt like he brought a little light to the darkness that is this chapter. And, as you can probably tell, I love how his goats pull the chariots in the myths..._**

 **Chapter 4 - Loss**

 _Loki flinched violently as the door to his chambers slammed open, his head banging into the slats under his bed._

" _Brother, I have need of you," a high-pitched, excitable voice called out and Loki relaxed, rubbing his head absentmindedly._

 _It was not Odin._

 _That was good._

 _He quickly grabbed the book he had been reading and shuffled out from under the bed to gaze up at Thor, hair tousled and clothes muddy, still holding a wooden practice sword in his hand._

" _Loki, I have come to speak with you about a most urgent matter," Thor explained, running over to pull Loki to his feet. "The Lady Freyja insulted my honour most gravely today and I need to defend it,"_

 _Loki rolled his eyes. "Thor, if all she did was refuse to help you attach goats to a chariot…"_

" _She did not just refuse to help, she insulted my honour as a warrior of Asgard, saying that I was adorable, but she had better things to do with her time." Thor huffed and folded his arms. "My goats are important, they need to feel valued by the armies of Asgard. She threatened to eat them, Loki! Then, when I tried to defend them with my sword," he brandished the practice sword, "(as a warrior should always defend his shield brothers) she pushed me into the mud next to them, and she laughed at me, Loki, and so did all her friends…" Thor trailed off forlornly and Loki felt his blood boiling._

 _How dare Freyja, a fair maiden who, at just over 600, seemed almost to be a woman, insult Thor in such a way? After meeting Freyja at a feast, Thor had found himself seemingly hero-worshipping the radiant goddess, and had talked of nothing save a way to get her to play with him again. Yesterday morning at breakfast, he had stated that he would ask for her help in making his goats pull their very own chariot (as everyone loved Thor's goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr, so how could she not?). Pushing a frost giant such as himself into the mud was unfortunately acceptable, but doing so to Thor, Odin's pride and joy and the golden child of the palace, was not._

" _Thor," Loki said slowly and apologetically. "However much you have progressed in your sword practice recently, I do not think you are yet ready to face someone such as Lady Freyja, she is more than 300 years your elder, after all."_

 _Thor scowled. "That is why I have need of you brother, we must use one of your tricks in order to humiliate Lady Freyja as she did my goats and I." His smile brightened. "Brother, I have noticed of late that you seem to be very sad, and that you have not pulled any of your usual tricks, nor done any of your magic. I am hoping that this quest to avenge my shield brothers, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr, will make you happy again,"_

 _Loki's eyes widened in panic, though in the back of his mind he laughed despairingly at the fact that Thor had taken almost three decades to realise that he had all but stopped his magics and evil tricks. As much as he wished to help Thor, he could not risk using his magic and Odin finding out. "Thor…I am sorry, brother…but I cannot help you in your quest…"_

" _Why?" Thor demanded, looking crestfallen, and Loki's mind flashed back to the last time that he had used magic. The boy that he had been training with had not seemed to care that they were only practicing, and after he had disarmed Loki he had lashed out violently with his sword. Loki had reacted instinctively, throwing his arms around his head, and the sword had just bounced off him. The boy, after the initial shock had worn off, had laughed that he had just wanted to scare Loki, he hadn't really tried to bash his head in with the sword. Then he had shaken Loki's hand, proclaimed their duel a tie, and walked away cheerfully._

 _Odin however, after hearing about the incident from Heimdall, had been a lot less pleased. After he had screamed at Loki about his disgusting, jotun magic and how he was a coward who refused to fight like Aesir should, he had proceeded to whip Loki until he had almost passed out from the pain. Whilst Loki knew that that was what Odin had promised he would do if he ever found out about Loki using magic again (the incident with the boy was hardly the first time he had been caught accidentally using magic after the discovery of his heritage), he had known the consequences, it was his fault, and it was infinitely better than Thor finding out; he found that very difficult to remember as he lay on his side on the stone floor of his chambers, his blood running from his back and onto the floor._

 _Odin had left Loki there until Frigga had returned from her visit to Alfheim, at which point he had healed him so that Frigga would not suspect he was a frost giant, and had made it clear how nice he was being to the ungrateful monster, still keeping his secret after everything he'd done._

" _Brother?" Thor asked, putting his hand on Loki's shoulder. Loki gasped and flinched away._

" _What?" he snapped._

" _Why will you not help me? If we pull this off no one will ever know that it was us," Thor sighed. "I wish for things to be how they used to. You have seemed so distant, Loki. You barely come to meals when mother is not there, you do not come on quests with Lady Sif, Fandral and myself, you have hardly come to play with my goats and I, and I know that they want to see you,"_

" _Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr want to see_ me _?"_

" _They found your tunic very tasty last time," Thor laughed, and Loki found himself grinning for the first time in a while._

 _It suddenly hit him that Thor_ missed _him._

 _Thor was right. He did not have a lot of fun these days and he was scared of hanging around with Thor because what if Thor noticed and hated him? Looking at Thor's determined gaze he decided that yes, Odin may be furious, and that he should definitely not be using his hateful magic, but if it meant that he could be happy with Thor again, even if it were just for a short while, it would be worth it._

" _Okay," he agreed, and Thor's expression lit up. He knew now that he had made the right decision._

" _So brother, what are your ideas?"_

 _Loki thought for a moment. "We are going to need access to the Lady Freyja's wardrobe," he smirked._

-m-

 _Loki's heart pounded as he raced through the corridors of the palace, hot on Thor's heals. He could hear the clatter of the Einherjar behind him and he cursed himself for ever agreeing to help Thor. Of course,_ of course, _Freyja would have protected her rooms with enchantments._

 _One of the guards grabbed him and he threw them away from him in his panic. Then he realised what he had done and backed away into the wall. Not only had they been caught sneaking into Freyja's rooms, clearly up to some form of mischief, but now he had used his magic too. The guard grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "What do you think you-"_

" _Unhand my brother!" Thor cried, bashing the side of the guard with his fists and trying to pull him away._

" _What is the meaning of this?"_

 _At once the entire hallway fell silent._

 _Loki froze, staring at Odin in horror. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest and he was certain that he couldn't breathe._

" _Leave me with my sons," Odin commanded, and the guard let Loki go. He was too busy staring at Odin though, unable to look away. His mind was swirling with terror and the only coherent thought was that Thor would know and there would be pain, pain, pain. "Loki?" Odin asked dangerously but all he could do was shake his head wildly, unable to speak._

" _Father, I apologise for entering the Lady Freyja's rooms," Thor said solemnly. "I asked Loki to aid me on my quest to avenge Tanngrisnir and…" Odin listened to Thor, a grave expression on his face, but Loki found himself unable to focus on Thor's tale, his attention all on Odin._

" _I see," Odin replied after Thor had finished. "Go to you chambers Thor, I will speak with you later,"_

 _Thor nodded, clearly mad that their plan had failed, and turned and stormed away, but not before sending a last grin over his shoulder at Loki._

 _Odin waited until the second that Thor had turned the corner before glancing around and launching himself at Loki. Taking hold of a fistful of his hair, he forced Loki to look directly up at him. Loki winced at the pressure and tried to stand on his toes, struggling for balance._

" _What have you done to Thor, corrupting him like this? Teaching him to seek revenge through trickery!"_

 _Loki wanted to protest, he hadn't done anything like this for years, it was Thor's idea, but he couldn't find the words to speak._

" _Come with me," Odin commanded, letting go of his hair. Loki wobbled backwards but Odin grabbed his arm, dragging Loki towards his chambers._

 _Loki stumbled at the fast pace, struggling not to think about what might happen, trying to control his breathing and stop crying. Odin hated it when he cried. A real Aesir would never cry. It was just another way to show he had a monster for a son._

 _Odin shoved the door to Loki's rooms open and threw Loki inside. Loki went sprawling onto his hands and knees and let out a cry of pain and fear._

 _The door closed heavily behind him and Loki turned around to see Odin reaching for him, he tried desperately to scramble backwards but Odin was much bigger and stronger than him and he reached out for Loki's arm, enclosing it in a bruising grip and dragging him to his feet._

" _Do you have_ anything _to say for yourself?"_

" _I'm sorry!" Loki sobbed. "I didn't want to do it, Thor said that-"_

 _Odin cut him off with a sharp slap to the side of his face and he went flying down, collapsing in a heap at Odin's feet._

" _Never, blame_ my son, _for your monstrous traits."_

 _Loki's breath came in short gasps, why had he said that, how could he have thought that that was the right thing to say?_

 _Odin looked down on him, considering, before he reached for his head again and Loki shut his eyes, curling in on himself, there was nowhere he could run. Odin's hand came to rest on his forehead and Loki felt a familiar tingle of magic rush through him._

" _No!_ No!" _he shouted. This couldn't be happening, this couldn't be happening!_

 _His eyes flew open to rest on Odin's satisfied grimace. Then he raised a shaking hand to look at it. It was blue._

" _No! No! Stop it, stop it, please stop it!" Loki screamed, but Odin said nothing, just reaching for his hair and dragging him upwards and towards his mirror. Loki half crawled, half stumbled after him, the pressure on his head unbearable._

" _Look at this, look at what you are, Loki!" the Allfather said softy. Loki screwed his eyes tight shut._

" _No," he said softy._

" _No?" Odin replied, sounding very, very dangerous. Then, without warning, he shoved Loki forwards. Loki yelled, his eyes flying open in terror, and he threw his arms forwards to catch himself. They collided with the mirror and then Loki could see nothing but himself, see the monster he had hidden for 28 years, a sight he had never wanted to witness again. "This is what you are, Loki, a monster,"_

" _Please, please, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Loki whispered, unable to tear his eyes away from his reflection. His monstrous red eyes stared back at him, they looked afraid, Loki thought distantly, but undeniably evil. "Whatever you want, I'll do it, I swear!"_

 _Odin dropped him and Loki crumpled to the floor once more. He forced himself to look at Odin, and not the mirror where he could see his hated self again. That mirror had become his lifeline, every morning he would look at his reflection carefully and check that he still looked normal, that he looked like the non-monstrous Aesir Loki. Of course, he knew he was still a monster, whatever form he took, but it was comforting to know that no on else could see that. Now though, now he knew if he turned around he'd see what he really looked like, and_ nothing _was worse than that._

" _You will stay here, for the rest of the week," Odin said, his voice calm. "And you can reflect on what you've done. At the end of that time we will see if there is yet hope for you,"_

 _Odin turned and walked away._

" _No wait, where are you going?" Loki demanded, scrambling to his feet. "Change me back, change me back!"_

 _Smirking, Odin opened the door, and with a yelp of terror Loki dived to the side, then peaked out from behind his chest of drawers. Keeping eye contact with Loki the entire time, Odin stepped through the door, then closed it behind him._

 _For a long time Loki did not dare to move. When he had stopped shaking enough to stand he raced across his room and scrambled under the bed, pressing himself into a dark corner, his heart hammering in his chest and his breathing ragged._

 _Loki wasn't sure how long he stayed there, hidden under the bed, sobbing in terror. After a time he could ignore the dryness of his throat no longer and he had to make a quick trip to the bathroom so he could drink from the tap. He did not stay there long and it did not feel like enough. The second time he did this he dragged his blankets with him under the bed, hoping to make the stone floor more bearable to lie on._

 _Occasionally, Odin brought him food. These visits always started with the door creaking ominously open and Loki's mind screaming in panic as he thought it was Thor, who would slay the monster, or his mother, who would shove him away and declare he wasn't her son. Fortunately though, Thor did not turn up, and Frigga was on yet another trip to try to solve the political crisis on Vanaheim._

 _As much as Loki feared Odin's visits, which often led to more pain, he was incredibly grateful for the small amount of food to calm his ravenous stomach. The first few days he hadn't felt hungry, just so, so afraid, but after that he hadn't believed it was possible to need food that much. Of course, Odin reminded him, he was being very kind, taking up his precious time to give a monster like Loki food. Loki agreed that this was true, and was very glad that Odin cared enough about him to do so._

 _At the end of what Loki thought was the eighth day, Odin declared that he had decided to give Loki another chance. Loki was sure he had never felt such relief._

 _One thing was for certain, he was never, ever going to use magic again._

-M-

"Where is Loki?" Frigga demanded as soon as Odin had set foot in their chambers. She had watched from their window as Sif and the Warriors Three had returned to the palace, and then Odin and Thor, but there was no Loki to be seen. Of course, he might have just teleported back to his room, but Loki was not the type to use magic needlessly. In the minutes it had taken for Odin to return to their chambers she had tried desperately to keep her mind from imagining the worst.

"Loki, Thor, and their friends marched into Jotunheim and fought with Laufey and his people. The frost giants have declared war on Asgard. As a result, I have banished him to Midgard," Odin said, closing the door behind him.

"Banished him?" Frigga exclaimed incredulously, flicking her hand to cast a spell that would prevent the guards from hearing what was undoubtedly going to become a heated argument.

"Yes," said Odin. "And he shall remain there until this crisis has been averted, which might take some time given the circumstances,"

"Some time?"

Odin sighed. "Frigga, you know as well as I that Loki has little use other than as a political pawn, with the coming war he has served his-"

"Why must you always take my children from me?" Frigga screamed, her rage uncharacteristically uncontrolled in her grief.

"Come now," Odin replied, trying to put a placating hand on her shoulder. She brushed it aside, her other hand resting on the hilt of her sword. Odin regarded this with weary amusement. "That was over a millennia ago, and you know that Heimdall sees that she thrives in Helheim-"

"Becoming the ruler of Helheim is _not_ thriving!" Frigga snapped. "She was meant to be with me, she was meant to grow up, safe and happy and free from the…" she trailed off. "Loki is not a replacement for her and you know it," she paused for a moment and watched Odin's changing expression. "No, no don't you dare! I wanted them _both_ , I _want_ them both!"

"Loki's tricks have gone on for too long. He caused this war,"

Frigga scoffed in derision at her husband, at his trying to lord himself over her and claim he was blameless. "You know as well as I that that was Thor," her voice was steady now, regal, like the queen she was.

"Then what," Odin demanded, "was he doing before the coronation? He turned up late, did he not? Heimdall said he could not see him. You know as well as I that he has the power to travel from realm to realm without assistance,"

Frigga's eyes narrowed. "You know that was not what started this, Loki was not the one who chose to travel to Jotunheim, he was not the one to provoke war. I love Thor, but I know him of old, this was his doing,"

Odin sighed, it was a weary and long-suffering sigh yet somehow Frigga could not find it in herself to care. "Frigga, Loki is a frost giant…he will not be safe in the coming battle, he will be a liability, if one of them were to touch him…"

"Then let me tell him about his heritage!"

"No!" Odin commanded, his voice echoing throughout their chambers. A lesser woman would have backed away, but Frigga, ever unwilling to give up fighting for what she wanted, stood her ground.

"He is merely your scapegoat in this crisis, is he not," she stated icily. "Do you cover up all your problems, or do you ever have the courage to admit to them and face them like a true warrior should?"

At this point, Frigga was quite certain that he wanted to strike her. Fortunately, he seemed to have remembered how well behaving like that had gone and his sword-arm merely jerked slightly. She frowned, if reacting to words with violence was something his body instinctively did, almost 1200 years after she had shown him exactly what happened to men who tried to push her around (being a shield-maiden with magic was such a useful thing), that did not bode well. What had she not seen? Had Loki been okay? Had Thor? She dismissed the latter thought immediately, in Odin's eyes Thor could do no wrong…but Loki on the other hand. Her blood boiled, and she resolved to think further on the matter later. Now, there were other important things to deal with. She fixed her gaze on Odin and looked him directly in the eye. He had the grace to look slightly uncomfortable.

"Thor is the better fighter," Odin argued, a weak excuse in Frigga's opinion.

"And Loki is _by far_ the better diplomat."

"Loki is a frost giant,"

"He is our _son._ When did you forget that?" Frigga demanded, then paused, frowning slightly. "Or have you never known,"

At these words something in Odin seemed to break, he looked at her, his eyes slightly out of focus, but Frigga was beyond caring.

"How could you be so cruel?" Frigga snapped, her voice raising in pitch as she struggled to control her emotions. "You kill one of my children then banish another! What is next, what will the great Odin Allfather…"

She frowned as Odin collapsed to the ground, gasping and reaching out weakly for her. She groaned, of course on the brink of war Odin would fall into the Odinsleep and leave Thor in charge to sort out the mess. Thor would do nothing but make the situation worse. But perhaps, she could do something about that... One thing she would certainly not be doing was keeping watch at his bedside as she, the good and attentive wife, had done so many times before.

She stepped away from his motionless body and calmly pushed open the heavy golden doors to speak to the oblivious Einherjar stationed outside.

"The Allfather has fallen into the Odinsleep," she declared calmly. "Due to Thor's reckless actions on Jotunheim, shortly before he collapsed he named me Regent. You must fetch Eir to see to him, then ensure this turn of events is passed onto Tyr, who will relay it onto the relevant nobles,"

And with that she swept away along the corridor.

After all, _someone_ needed to sort out this mess.

-M-

 _Odin pushed the door open and squinted, the golden lights outside had made it difficult to see in the gloom of the chambers he shared with his wife._

 _His nose wrinkled involuntarily. He had thought he had left the stench on the battlefield on Jotunheim, but here, still, the room smelt like blood, and death._

 _He sighed as he caught sight of Frigga, curled up beside the bed, a red stained bundle still clutched in her arms. Her eyes caught his for a second, hooded and unfocused with lack of sleep, and full of grief, before she looked down, her knees drawing up further and her arms tightening around the bundle. Odin felt a surge of anger coursing through his veins. He had been off fighting for Asgard and Frigga was meant to be doing her duty too, looking after Thor. It infuriated him to see his once bright and radiant young wife look so broken._

 _Before this Frigga had been defiant and feisty, with a spark in her eyes that promised she would never let anything defeat her. He remembered their wedding day, how her brother had assured him that he may think of this as the ideal political union, Asgard and Vanaheim united by the courageous and successful king and the beautiful princess, but if he thought he could control her he should back out now. And Frigga had been wonderful, both as a political advisor and as a mother for Thor, and when he was in a good mood he could admit to himself that the times she challenged his authority were generally useful._

 _The bundle under Odin's arm squirmed and he remembered why he had come. Quietly he shut the door behind him and waved his hand to turn on the lights. He watched Frigga turn her head to bury it in the side of the mattress, the too-bright lights burning her eyes._

 _He adjusted the frost giant babe in his arms and stepped towards her. "My wife, I believe I have something that will ease your pain,"_

 _And he did, of this he was sure. Frigga would have a new babe to tend for, and it would bring her out of this ridiculous mood (Hela had been fated to destroy Asgard for Norn's sake!) and back to her former self. When she finally realised what the child was, she would be well enough to see that she was still the queen of Asgard, and that she had both Odin and Thor, and then she would agree that the child would be useful as a political pawn. He crouched down in front of her._

" _Look, I have brought you a child to raise,"_

 _Odin was quite certain that no one had ever looked at him with such hatred in their eyes._

" _Are you in the habit of separating mothers and their children, Allfather?" her voice was cracked from disuse, but the disdain in it was evident._

 _At once Odin realised his mistake. "No, he was left to die," he assured her._

 _Frigga looked sceptical. "Where would you find an abandoned baby…" she murmured. "Unless…_ Jotunheim _."_

 _Odin despaired at the absolute certainty in his wife's voice. He started to stand up, preparing to go away and dispose of the baby. Now what was he meant to do?_

" _No!" Frigga cried. "He's mine, give him to me!"_

 _Odin gazed at her in astonishment as she slowly and carefully set Hela down next to her. He looked at the blood staining the white sheets from where he had pierced the newborn infant and he could almost hear Frigga's distraught screams:_ Why did you take my child from me? Why? _Nothing he had said had been able to calm her down, visions were apparently not a good enough excuse for taking Hela's life, and he had hastily fled the room as Frigga, clutching Hela's small form to her chest, sent waves of destructive magic pouring from her body about the room. It had not been ideal that he had needed to leave Asgard to see to the threat from Laufey, but when he had seen the Jotun babe he had smelled opportunity to win back Frigga's favour. Here was a boy who would not be responsible for Asgard's destruction. There was also the added bonus of Loki being seemingly born at almost the same time as Hela, there was no need to try to explain a child and no pregnancy, only to threaten and bribe various midwives and Heimdall. Now though, that Frigga knew what the boy was, he could not understand why she would still want to hold it._

 _Cautiously, and with no small amount of confusion, he lowered the Jotun child (painstakingly glamoured to have black hair and green eyes like Hela's) into Frigga's arms._

 _Cradling the monstrous child seemed to make her relax. She smiled softly and pressed a kiss to its forehead. The baby gurgled happily. "He's warm…" she said softly, her voice breaking. Then she began to hum quietly to him, tears streaming down her cheeks. "You must be hungry," she said after a few minutes of what Odin thought to be quite frankly bewildering behaviour. Then she attached the boy, who had started to wriggle unhappily before Frigga's assertion, to her breast and allowed him to drink her milk._

" _He's a frost giant…" Odin muttered._

" _He needs a name," Frigga stated, a small smile on her lips. "My son needs a name…"_

 _Odin gritted his teeth and thought. If he were to be raised as a member of their family, despite Frigga knowing where the babe really came from (she would get over it, he was sure, when she remembered Thor), he would need a good, strong name, worthy of the house of Odin._

" _Perhaps Vé, Mimir, Frejr… Baldr?" Odin suggested._

" _Odin, you cannot give him the same name as your illegitimate son!" Frigga snapped. Odin's temper flared, but at least, he conceded, he was back to being 'Odin'. "I will call him Loki, for that is the name I would have chosen were Hela a boy,"_

 _Odin sighed in frustration, 'Loki' was certainly not a name he would have chosen were it up to him. But, he reflected, at least his wife seemed to have cheered up somewhat, even if her wits had clearly not returned._

 _Frigga smiled down at the child. "Know that you will always be loved, Loki, and that you are so very special,"_

 ** _So, I hope you all enjoyed the angst that was that chapter._**

 ** _Next up: Loki, Jane, Darcy and Erik do science (and maybe a bit more if I have time to write)_**


	5. Breakfast

_**IMPORTANT NOTE REGARDING TIMELINE, please read!**_  
 _ **\- So, some of you may have noticed that according to the MCU Thor fell to earth on the night of Tony's birthday party…obviously, this poses the issue of while Loki is being driven to the hospital Tony has already defeated Vanko and been debriefed by SHIELD. Things...don't line up...**_  
 _ **\- How I am going to fix the problem of accidentally being two days out: Thor's coronation takes place two days later in this fic. Why? How? That will be explained near the end of this chapter…I thank you for your time…now on with the skippable parts of the author's note...**_  
 _ **1) Thank you all once again for all the reviews, follows and favourites! You guys all make my day and I love you all : )**_  
 _ **2) I was unsure which word to use so: cooker=stove=oven.**_  
 _ **3) I hope you enjoy the chapter!**_  
 _ **27/01/2018**_

 **Chapter 5 - Breakfast**

Tony swung round in his chair and grabbed the coffee from the table behind him. He was due to receive the award from Senator Stern in a few hours and he did want to be awake enough to get there on time. Not that he actually cared about making other people wait, but he had a date with Pepper that evening that he didn't want to miss. Plus he needed to show Rhodey that he could be responsible, sometimes, so he'd stop stressing about how Tony had nearly died without telling him, and bugging him about all the reckless behaviour in the previous months.

But, before he could get to that…

"Any updates on SHIELD's extra-terrestrial investigations J?"

"Actually Sir, there has been," Jarvis informed him, and Tony felt a rush of excitement. "In the early hours of this morning SHIELD observed an unusual energy signature somewhere in the area of the New Mexico desert. So far they have been unable to find anything except for some half destroyed markings in the sand, and footprints and tyre tracks that they have been unable to trace,"

"Huh, interesting...download all the information you can find onto my personal servers and keep me updated,"

"Of course, sir,"

And with that Tony downed the rest of his coffee and sauntered out his lab to look for a suitable suit.

-M-

"So America does not have a king?"

"For the last time Loki we're a democracy!" Darcy said in frustration. Jane glanced warily between the both of them, starting to wonder if letting Loki stay with them had been such a good idea. He did seem to be a lot more energetic and put together this afternoon, but still clearly had quite a few of his memories missing.

She had awoken early in the afternoon, having got back to the lab just when the sky was starting to show flecks of orange, and then had collapsed in bed in her trailer after helping set Loki up on the couch. After remembering the night's events, she had made her way back over to check on Loki, who had been sleeping peacefully on the sofa. Unfortunately, her attempts to quietly make a very late breakfast had been thwarted when she'd smashed a plate on the floor and Loki had shot up, looking around in confusion, his eyes wide and panicked.

After seeing that Loki was not about to fall back to sleep any time soon and remembering the doctor's advice, Jane had set about trying to cook breakfast with Loki's help. He had clearly been interested in the cooker, she had seen him frowning out of the corner of her eye as she had turned the gas hob on to fry the bacon, but he hadn't said anything. He had been equally uncommunicative when she had once again tried to ask about the markings in the desert, muttering something about how he needed to figure out how to explain 'yggdrasil' to a 'midgardian'.

Darcy had smelled food and emerged several minutes after that, exclaiming that they should pick strangers up in the desert more often, as since when did they have cooked breakfasts? After she had bashed on Erik's door and yelled at him to wake up, the conversation had somehow got onto politics, and here they were, discussing democracy…which Loki had apparently never heard of.

"Yes, but what does that mean?" Loki demanded, leaning forward in his seat to look at Darcy across the table. Erik stumbled into the room and fell down into the chair next to Loki; Darcy patted him comfortingly on the shoulder and he took a gulp of coffee, gazing blearily around at them all.

"Basically, it means that we vote for the people we want to run our country," explained Darcy.

"Country?"

"God what was done to your head?" Erik muttered, and Jane shot him a sympathetic grimace.

"You know…like a nation state…a group of people living under one government,"

"And there is more than one country in this realm?"

"Realm?" Jane questioned, frowning.

"Yes?" Loki said.

"If you mean 'world' the yeah there's more than one country," Darcy replied, before shovelling a pile of mushrooms into her mouth.

"But would it not be more stable to have only one government?"

Erik laughed. "Sure, if everyone could agree on everything,"

"There are 7 billion people on this planet," Darcy explained. "And thousands of different cultures. It would be impossible to put in place a single government for everyone. The scale for one thing would make it impossible, and that's without all the cultural differences."

Loki considered this for a second. "That makes sense." he said. "However, I still do not understand why you would let the people vote for the…government. What if the people do not understand what is right for them?"

Darcy snorted and rolled her eyes. "And one power-hungry dictator will?

Loki was staring at her as if she had said something either horrific or revolutionary. Probably both. "If they are a wise king, yes," he replied, and Jane felt she really had to weigh in on this discussion.

"Well who decides that they're a wise king, and who's there to stop them if they're not?"

Loki turned his gaze on her, his eyes flashing in anger. "My f…" he trailed off and his eyes seemed to cool before he looked down at his half-finished plate.

"What did you say your name was again?" Erik asked pensively, and Jane raised her eyebrows at the rapid change in the topic of conversation.

"Loki Odinson," Loki muttered, sounding shaky and still staring at his food, pulling at the hem of his strange, old-fashioned, green shirt.

Jane shot Erik a questioning glance, but he shook his head and mouthed 'later' at her.

-m-

15 minutes afterwards found Jane doing the washing up and Darcy and Loki drying. The latter had managed most of his meal, before giving up and apologising, stating he did not want to be impolite but he felt quite sick. Erik was still being strangely secretive and had disappeared off to the library.

Jane broke her second plate of the day when out of nowhere a blinding flash of golden light came from across the room.

-M-

Loki gazed in horror at his mother's illusion and collapsed back against what Jane had earlier called a 'fridge-freezer'. Why was she here, visiting during his banishment, surely Odin had forbidden it, did his mother _know_?

"Who are you?"

He glanced beside him to see Darcy clutching a knife and trying to look threatening. It was an admirable effort, he thought absently, but she could easily be disarmed in that position, he would have to teach her how to handle knives properly later.

"I am Frigga, Queen of Asgard, and have come to speak to my son about a most urgent matter," his mother said gracefully.

Darcy and Jane both held half-terrified, half-bewildered looks. "What…" Jane said weakly.

Darcy was the first to catch on. "Loki's a _prince_ ," she muttered. "Shit, we just insulted your father and your entire way of government!"

Jane shot her an exasperated look that clearly said 'you had to tell her that didn't you?'. Darcy had the sense to grimace guiltily.

Frigga laughed drily and Loki frowned. "Given Odin's recent decisions I can't say I blame you,"

Loki's eyes widened. His mother would _never_ insult Odin, not in public. "What is going on?"

"Your father has fallen into the Odinsleep,"

Loki didn't even try to hide the wave of relief that washed through him. Odin couldn't harm him if he were asleep. And who knew if he would ever wake up? Immediately, Loki berated himself for the thought, he had no right to speak of the Allfather thus, not after everything he had done for him, all the mistakes he had overlooked. Still…the immediate threat had been lessened and some of the tension in him drained away. Until another thought hit him:

"Do not tell me that Thor is in charge of Asgard!"

Frigga smiled grimly. "No, he is not, Odin has named me Regent of Asgard due to Thor's actions on Jotunheim,"

No, something about that sentence wasn't right…Loki studied Frigga's expression as he felt Jane slip past him and out of the room.

"Father would never deny Thor the Throne, I was banished for a reason, he said it was my fault,"

Frigga sighed. "I may have lied about your father's last declaration,"

"That's treason,"

"Yes," Frigga agreed.

"Sorry, why are you committing treason?" Darcy interrupted, and Loki glared at her. How dare she speak to his mother (not his mother, Odin had repeatedly told him, but Loki couldn't help but think of her in this way), the Queen of Asgard, in such a manner?

"I suppose it runs in the family," Frigga said mildly, not appearing to take offense to the question.

Loki flinched at the accusation and opened his mouth to defend himself.

"Oh we both know Thor's not ready to be King," Frigga said, sounding weary. "Though I am upset that your plan got two guards and five frost giants killed-" _she's upset that the destroyer killed_ frost giants? Loki thought incredulously, "-I do think that you had the right idea, something needed to be done to stop Thor becoming king,"

Loki raised his eyebrows, completely thrown. "What?" he asked in bewilderment. Jane reappeared in the corner of his vision, waving some device around, pointing it at himself and Darcy, and then making a small squeal of excitement when it pointed towards his mother's illusion. He frowned, he didn't _think_ she was doing anything dangerous, but he couldn't be sure…

"Through Thor's actions on Jotunheim it is very clear that he is not ready to be king. It is not that I want him banished, but as much as I love him I do feel for his slaughtering of countless Jotuns and leading you all into danger he does deserve to be here more than you do," she sighed. "It is a pity that Odin was so eager to crown Thor before he fell into the Odinsleep, he was too hasty in his decision... the effort I had to put in to make him delay it for two days so that he could recover…"

Loki did his best to avoid looking guilty at the last sentence. Thor's coronation had originally been planned to take place two days earlier than it had done. Loki had gone to Odin to beg him to reconsider crowning Thor so soon, citing several incidents in which Thor had proved himself not ready to be king, before the Allfather had cut him off, flying into a rage, because how dare a creature such as himself cast allegations against his only son? Loki had backed away, expecting Odin to stride over and hit him. Instead Odin had taken two paces in his direction before promptly collapsing.

He had fought off the Odinsleep admirably, but this had only worsened Odin's conviction: Thor had to become king. It was then Loki had known that if he wanted to stop Thor's coronation he had no other option but to go through with his treasonous plan.

"Thank you for telling that guard where you were all going, but oh Loki when I knew you were in Jotunheim-" Frigga cut off and Loki was left wondering what she had been about to say. Certainly, she seemed to be more on edge than he had ever seen her, save for perhaps when he had returned from…that place…but it wasn't the time to dwell on that now. Frigga looked resigned before stating: "I want to be honest with you, and I have tried to be today, on my feelings about Thor and the coronation, but there are still some things that I need to tell you. Unfortunately, I need to try to undo the damage that living in Asgard has done to Thor's mindset, so that when Odin does awake and he is crowned king, he might have a chance, and travel to Jotunheim to make peace with the Jotuns,"

Loki's confusion at the earlier parts of the sentence turned into alarm when Frigga announced her plan to journey to Jotunheim. "No, you cannot!" he cried. "They are savages, monsters, you cannot risk your life for this, you cannot reason with a frost giant!"

Frigga looked at him with an indiscernible expression on her face, it looked…almost apologetic. "They are not monsters Loki, they are as rational as you or I,"

"No, Odin has always said-"

"I can see now that Odin has been wrong about many things, this is one of them." Frigga said darkly, closing her eyes as if to ward of tears. _Why?_ Loki thought. "Loki there is nothing wrong with being a frost giant,"

Loki shook his head, refusing to believe her. She couldn't really think that, that was madness, and he refused to let himself hope.

Frigga exhaled shakily. "Oh Loki, I want you at my side for all this political manoeuvring. But as much as I want you back on Asgard I cannot let you return yet, I need to keep you safe…I will try to explain everything later, I bid you-"

"No wait!" Jane exclaimed and Loki's attention snapped to her. She gesticulated wildly with the strange contraption. "Please, you can't go yet, you need to explain how you're doing this!"

"Doing what?" Darcy said, voicing the confusion Loki was sure they all felt.

"You're not really here, not like we are, but we can see you, we can _hear_ you, how are you doing this?"

"What?" Darcy looked Frigga up at down in bewilderment. "I want to know how she teleported in here, but she's clearly not…"

"No, Jane is quite right," Loki explained. "Mother is still in Asgard, she is merely projecting an illusion of her presence here so that she is able to communicate with me,"

"So, like, if I were to throw something at you it would go straight through you?"

"Yes," Frigga confirmed with a hint of a smirk.

"Awesome!" Darcy seemed to consider the knife she was still holding before placing in down and instead picking up a sponge. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all," his mother replied, smiling in bemusement. Darcy grinned as the sponge sailed straight through Frigga's stomach, causing the illusion to flicker slightly.

"You got that, right?" she asked Jane, who nodded in exhilaration and put something small back in her pocket.

"And now I really must go if I want to avoid suspicion," Frigga said. "Farewell Loki, and farewell to you both, I thank you for welcoming my son into your home. I am sure Loki is capable of explaining how my magic works if you would like to know more." Jane looked, if possible, even happier. Frigga turned to Loki, fixing her gaze on him. "I will return soon,"

And with that she disappeared in another golden glow, and Loki was left feeling distinctly empty.

"What…?" a confused voice came from behind him. Loki swung round to see Erik, looking unsettled and clutching a large book under one arm. "What was that?"

 ** _So, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter :D_**

 ** _Up next: The gang (yes, they are a gang now) discuss Norse mythology, unfortunately Erik is insensitive (poor Loki!)_**  
 ** _We flash back to the story of Sleipnir (yay, angst!)_**  
 ** _Tony does some more digging (and becomes much closer to meeting Loki)_**


	6. Sleipnir

**A/N, sorry about the delay, this was meant to be up on Saturday, but it wouldn't let me upload :( On the plus side, my readers on Ao3 had to read this _chapter in two parts, as it was so long I couldn't complete it all by Thursday (which is when I usually upload there), and you get it all in one go!_**

 _ **Important:** If reading about panic attacks causes you distress, skip the bit from when Erik starts asking about the myths being true until the italicised text. Also, there is only a brief illusion to rape after the event has taken place, but nothing remotely graphic, so fear not!_

 _ **Skippable:** I picture Loki at around 14/15 years old in this flashback (because I am evil)._

 _I feel a sense of déjà-vu at calling the builder Bjarke, like someone else has done the same. They probably have done, I mean there were few Norse names beginning with B in the list of names I looked at. Please just know that if it is the case I do not deliberately mean to copy someone's story, it just sounds like the best name._

 _Søvnig = sleepy._

 _Lastly, I just want to say again that I am extraordinarily happy with all the follows, favourites and reviews, and you are all amazing people!_

 _I hope you enjoy this chapter!_

 _05/02/2018_

 **Chapter Six - Sleipnir**

"So, how does the Bifrost work?" Jane asked, pen poised to write, her notebook already filled with explanations and diagrams of magical theory, only half of which Loki believed she understood. One thing was for certain though, Jane would understand how his magic worked, she was too determined not to.

Once again Loki's eyes flicked to the book on the table, in front of Erik. It contained what he supposed was a representation of Thor, muscled, with blonde hair and a beard, holding a hammer with lightening crackling out from it. That Midgardians knew about Thor made Loki uncomfortable; they weren't meant to, the Allfather had forbidden travel to Midgard for over 1000 years. So why did they know about Thor?

"It's difficult to explain…" Loki said, yet again trying to ignore the book. "It opens a pathway between two faraway points in the universe…"

"So, it's basically like an Einstein-Rosen bridge," Jane said, in a tone that made it sound like she'd clarified something, but Loki was just left feeling confused.

Darcy was, apparently, feeling the same way: "a what?"

"An Einstein-Rosen bridge is a theor…." Erik began before Jane cut across him.

"It's a wormhole,"

Comprehension dawned on Darcy's face. Well someone, at least, had understood that.

"What is an Einstein-Rosen bridge?" Loki asked Erik, who seemed to be able to explain what Jane meant. Unfortunately, Erik also seemed to tense at being spoken to by him, as he had done since his return. Loki was not quite sure why he suddenly feared him, but he was certain that it had something to do with the book.

"An Einstein-Rosen Bridge is a theoretical connection, between two different points of space-time," Erik explained, and then went into greater detail. Loki stopped him a couple of times to clarify certain Midgardian terms that Erik was using to explain himself. It did, however, seem that the Midgardians knew theoretically how the Bifrost worked, they were just missing the crucial part of how to create one without the use of a black hole.

"First of all," Loki explained, slightly unsure as to why he was helping them; revealing the secrets of the Bifrost was something expressly forbidden by Odin. However, it was nice to discuss the interconnectedness of magic and science, and to talk in such depth about their theories. Besides, it was unlikely that the mortals would ever manage to create one. Even with his help (which he definitely would not be providing in the practical aspect) it would likely take years, and the mortals would probably blow their own realm apart before they succeeded. "You are going to need an… 'element' which…"

He went onto describe the properties of the key element for stabilising portals containing that much energy. Darcy yawned and went back onto her phone, something which she had been doing for most of the conversation. When he had finished barely even a second had passed before Jane declared:

"Iridium."

Erik nodded. "I agree, it's probably the only known element that could withstand that,"

"We would have to do tests though,"

"Of course, it would be different to what the Asgardians use,"

"How would be get hold of some?"

"I have some contacts-"

The discussion of the Bifrost lasted some time. Darcy left to watch something called a TV show, and eventually Jane decided that even though there was so much more that they needed to discuss, she couldn't ignore that she was hungry any longer, and she had gone to find menus for a takeout. Which, Loki discovered, apparently involved food being delivered to you. It was also, Jane told him, perfectly acceptable to have food delivered to your house and to not go and collect it, and they were paying the delivery guy after all.

As soon as Jane had left the room Erik's demeanour changed. "Is this true?" he demanded, picking up the book.

Loki swallowed. "I don't know, I don't know what's in there,"

"It's about you, and all the tricks that you get up to," Erik frowned pointedly at him. "You lie, and you cheat people, and you revel in chaos. It's all for your own gain, to save your own skin. You never help people out of kindness… you're the trickster god, the god of mischief and lies,"

Loki hung his head and looked at his shaking hands. He knew, he knew how monstrous he was. How? How did the mortals know? Only Odin knew, only Odin had ever said anything like this to him. How did he know? He thought that Jane and Darcy had liked and respected him, but that would all change when Erik told them of his true nature.

"It's true," he replied, his voice cracking. It was better to get it out the way early. It was freeing, in a way, not to have to live a lie. At least now he wouldn't have to imagine what they would think of him. He would know exactly how much they hated him, no agonising waiting was needed.

"So, you mean to tell me that you actually gave birth to a horse? To the Midgard Serpent? To the Goddess of Death? Oh God!" Erik said but Loki could barely hear him through the roaring of his own head. "I am…protect Jane….."

Loki was somewhat aware that he had fallen off of his chair and onto the floor but he wasn't sure how he had got there. All he could see was blood, and Sleipnir and the snake and Angrboda holding him down, and Hela and Jormungand and Fenrir were there but they weren't because they were gone, gone, _gone_ , and Odin had taken them, and he wouldn't get them back and there was pain and fear and he needed them back, he needed them!

Slowly he became aware that someone was speaking to him, it was Jane, and Darcy was there too, and she was grabbing his hand. Everything started to fall into place and he could hear Jane telling him to breathe in time with her, but he couldn't do it. He was still shaking and gasping for air, and was he _crying_? But he just couldn't stop himself.

Eventually, after he wasn't sure how long, he had calmed down enough to allow Jane and Darcy to help him move shakily from the floor and over onto the sofa. Jane sat down next to him and covered him with a blanket, and told him that everything was okay and that they were just going to watch some mindless TV and that everything would be fine. As the black screen in front of them lit up to show moving pictures of Midgardians Loki could make out Darcy's voice in the background, angrily asking Erik what he had done to him. He missed Erik's reply, too tired and still too out of it to focus.

Some time later Darcy came bearing three mugs of a delicious smelling drink. She handed one to Jane and then squidged into the space on the other side of Loki before handing him another mug. He stared at it in confusion, inside was a rich brown liquid that he'd never seen anything like before. Perhaps it was a Midgardian healing potion. He watched Darcy blowing on the liquid before taking a sip, so he did the same, breathing across its surface before moving the pleasantly warm mug to his lips and drinking some. It was delicious, and the warm liquid settling in his stomach calmed him a bit.

"Darcy makes the best hot chocolate," Jane commented.

Loki had never had anything like this before, but still, he couldn't help but agree.

-M-

It took a long time for Loki to get off to sleep that night, despite his exhaustion his mind was racing with lingering panic and he still felt shaky. When he finally did sleep, he later wished he hadn't…

 _It all started off fairly innocently._

 _He was relaxing (hiding) up his favourite tree in Frigga's garden when the Lady Freyja trampled into the grounds, sobbing pitifully and collapsing onto the ornate stone bench beneath Loki's tree._

 _Loki watched her with the customary feeling of terror and sickness that he associated her with, but also a sense of grim satisfaction._

 _Here she was, the cause of his reoccurring nightmares, and she was crying her eyes out. Finally,_ finally, _he could get some semblance of revenge._

 _Of course, intellectually, he knew the week that he had spent in his frost giant form had not been her fault. He had chosen to avenge Thor's goats with his evil tricks, and he had been duly punished. The association was, however, too great to ignore and Loki often found it impossible to be anywhere near her without feeling a rising sense of panic, even almost three hundred years after the incident had taken place. The panic, though, he could deal with, if it meant watching Freyja acting like her entire world was falling apart._

 _Until, he realised, she was looking up at him. "What are you doing here, Prince Loki?" she demanded, and he forced himself not to shake at her honey sweet, but equally deadly, voice._

" _This is my mother's garden," he shot back as haughtily as he could manage. "What are_ you _doing here,"_

 _She sighed, and more tears dripped from her eyes. Loki didn't think he'd ever seen her look so desolate. The small part of him that wasn't feeling terrified or vindictive felt sorry for her._

" _My parents want to marry me off," she snarled through her tears. "To this awful warrior and his family from Vanaheim. They want the Sun and the Moon as dowry and…" she sobbed, and Loki raised his eyebrows. Everyone knew that the Sun and the Moon were two of the most precious jewels that Freyja's family owned. Her parents must be very serious about the marriage, and the man must be very, very, high status. "My parents want me to agree!" she howled and Loki resisted the urge to cover his ears._

" _Well, it is your duty to marry well and produce good heirs," Loki said diplomatically. Freyja shot him a glare that could have melted stone._

" _No, it is_ not!" _she declared vehemently. "Not when I love another!"_

" _Oh, who?"_

" _As if I would tell you!" She thought for a moment. "You, you're a prince, even if you are a child still you know politics, you can get me out of this,"_

 _Loki scoffed. "I refuse,"_

" _You must have something!"_

 _Loki sighed, maybe now it was time to let go of the past, Lady Freyja did need his help after all, and it was nice to be needed for once. How to deal with this…_

" _Say you will marry him,"_

" _What!"_

" _I had not finished," Loki said coldly. "You will promise to marry him if, and only if, he completes an impossible task. You see, a warrior's pride is his downfall, he will never break an oath. So, if he swears that he will no longer pursue you if he cannot accomplish a task of your choosing, you will be free,"_

 _Freyja sat pensively for a moment. "You are intelligent, I will give you that." She smirked up at Loki. "Well, it seems as if I have a wedding to foil. Wish me luck!"_

 _And with that she sauntered off back the way she came, bashing Frigga's prize flowers out of her path as she went._

-m-

 _It would be wrong to say that Loki had forgotten the incident, he simply did not expect what happened next._

 _He winced as Freyja slammed him into the wall, before glaring up at her. Due to his recent growth spurts their height difference was almost negligible, he was barely a few inches shorter than her. He was, however, very skinny and gangling (it was hard to put on muscle when you were shooting up a good few inches a decade and did not eat half the time), and despite his combat training, he found it almost instinctive not to fight back when someone hit him, especially within the palace, feeling with absolute certainty that something worse would happen if he did._

" _You've ruined everything," she spat with such ferocity that Loki struggled not to flinch and only half succeeded._

" _What are you talking about?" Loki asked, feeling certain that he did know what she was talking about, and that Freyja had idiotically picked a task that was regrettably not going to be impossible._

" _Lord Bjarke is going to finish building the wall, all because of that Norn forsaken horse, and I am going to be forced to marry him and his weird horse fetishes!"_

" _His weird_ what _?"_

 _Freyja rolled her eyes. "You'll understand when you're older,"_

" _Thanks, I am not sure that I want to…but what was that about a wall?"_

 _Freyja gritted her teeth. "I told him, that if he could repair the walls of my family's house with no godly aid then I would consent to marriage,"_

" _I take it he has some form of non-godly aid?"_

" _Yes, his horse…do not look at me like that, it has magic or something. Look, the point is, I cannot directly try to sabotage the contract or I'll be cursed and I will still have to marry him. This is your mess. You sort this out."_

 _Loki laughed. "No. You chose the terms of your contract, do not presume to think that you can lay the blame at my feet,"_

" _If you refuse, I will tell the Allfather that all of this was your idea," Freyja said lightly, a wicked smile on her lips._

 _Loki's eyes hardened and he thought he did a good job at hiding the fact that his stomach had just turned to lead. "Oh," he taunted. "And why should he believe you?"_ Of course he will believe her, _his mind hissed at him,_ why ever would he believe a disgusting Jotun like you when the charming Lady Freyja speaks against you?

 _Freyja's eyes widened in the exhilaration of someone who knew that they had already won. She adopted a sickeningly sweet smile and the voice to match. "Because, Loki, I know he hurts you," her thumb brushed gently over the dark bruise that marred his left cheek. Loki's head jerked violently in the opposite direction._

" _I don't know what you're talking about!" he snarled, trying to squirm out of her grip._

" _Oh, temper, temper!" Freyja simpered. "Oh Loki, it's not hard to tell that he doesn't love you. Besides, I saw what he did to you, in the library, a few days ago, how you got this," she allowed her thumb to drift across the bruise again, pushing down harder this time. Loki paled and tried, and failed, not to flinch. "Oh Loki, were you scared?"_

 _Loki resisted the urge to laugh bleakly, of course he had been, he had been terrified. He remembered how Odin had come storming into library, usually a place where he felt calm, safe, and had pushed him back against one of the bookcases. Loki had winced as the shelves dug into his spine and had gazed up at Odin, who was furious. Odin had told him he had made his mother very upset, for some reason that Loki had missed due to Odin's fist flying at his face. He had curled up in a ball, shaking as Odin stormed away, before getting up a few minutes later and running to find his mother._

 _She had been tending to her garden and hadn't seemed very upset with him, that was until she caught sight of the bruise blossoming on the side of his face. "I got it from training," Loki had lied smoothly and Frigga had frowned sceptically._

" _Loki, if someone is-"_

" _I got it from training," Loki had insisted and Frigga had sighed and they had spent the rest of the day tending to various fruit trees. Before he left Frigga had mentioned that his father would probably be a bit grumpy that day, the trade negotiations with the dwarves were not going well, but he mustn't take it personally and that he would be back to his normal self in a few days. Loki had frowned, but hadn't replied._

 _Loki wondered where Freyja had been in the library. He had thought it was empty, and, if he felt comfortable enough to hit him, so had Odin._

" _How did you see?" he asked, shaking._

" _I came to find a book on breaking contracts, I watched you through the bookshelves,"_

 _Loki sighed. "Fine, I will help you. What do you want me to do?"_

" _I want you to distract him from the building work,"_

" _How?"_

" _How?" Freyja simpered. "You are the_ intelligent _one Loki, you figure it out."_

 _And with that she let him go and stalked away. Loki slid down the wall, trying to breathe evenly, he needed a plan._

-m-

 _Loki approached the man repointing the stonework of Freyja's family's house. A few hundred feet away he could see a large horse pulling a cart with an obscene amount of stone inside. Loki wondered absently how the horse managed it._

 _That wasn't the problem here though. The problem here would be incapacitating Bjarke without getting himself injured or killed in the process. Loki had thought for a while and had not seen how he could possibly talk Bjarke into purposely failing the deal, as that would be almost as damaging to his honour as pursuing Freyja after failure._

 _As he came closer he could feel the power emanating from Bjarke. Not as strong as his mother's or Odin's (or even his own), but he was undoubtedly a talented sorcerer nonetheless. This could complicate things._

" _Bjarke!" Loki hailed, throwing on the mask of confidence he used whenever he had to be in the same room as both Odin and Frigga and pretend everything was fine, and that he wasn't a frost giant monster. "I come bearing a gift from the Lady Freyja,"_

" _Oh?" Bjarke laughed heartily. "And here was I thinking that the fair maiden did not wish to marry me!"_

" _She has realised the gravity of the marriage and wishes to enter into it with no hard feelings on either of your parts,"_

" _Ah, but that is the beauty of it," Bjarke winked. "Forcing a strong-minded woman to submit to you and see things only from your point of view, there is nothing greater than that,"_

 _Loki had never been in love before, but he found himself very disconcerted by Bjarke's attitude. Freyja's desperation was understandable, even if he did not remotely appreciate the way she had gone about manipulating him._

" _But, let me see her gift…" By the tone at the end of his sentence Loki could tell he was asking for his name._

" _Loptr," he replied calmly. "I work as a messenger for several of the notable families of Asgard,"_

" _Well, Loptr, hand it over,"_

 _Loki passed the carefully wrapped jewel over and watched in anticipation as Bjarke slowly removed the cloth surrounding it. The jewel, Søvnig, was one of his mother's most prized possessions. Touching it could result in a sleep as deep and sometimes as long as the Odinsleep. Sometimes she used it to bring on the Odinsleep early, so Odin would wake up in time for an important event, sometimes she lent it to Eir for use on gravely wounded soldiers, as healing them was easier if they were in a deep sleep._

" _Oh, how magnificent!" Bjarke exclaimed, eyes roaming over the cloudy teal swirls moving lazily in the stone. "I shall give it to my grandmother, she always did like expensive gifts!"_

 _Loki's eyes widened. Bjarke needed to touch it or his plan would be ruined and one of his mother's most prised possessions would be gone. He knew that there would be no proof that he had taken it, but he was certain that it would make his mother very unhappy, and that Odin would undoubtedly blame him anyway._

" _Freyja gave it as a gift to you, not to your grandmother," Loki said, hoping his voice didn't convey how desperate he was._

" _Yes, she did." Bjarke smiled ruefully. "But I dislike my grandmother and would rather not curse myself,"_

" _What?" Loki cried in alarm and he suddenly felt that he couldn't move. It was not the sort of paralysis that fear often brought on, but an outside force, snaking round his limbs and rendering them useless._

" _What?" Bjarke echoed, his tone patronising. "You think I am unable to sense magic, like that of the stone, or like yours?"_

 _Loki didn't reply, there was nothing he could think of to say._

" _Now, the question is, what use do I have for you?" he muttered, circling Loki's immobile body. "A powerful sorcerer such as yourself…" He stopped his pacing and stood in front of Loki, smirking. "S_ _vadilfari is getting old, and I am going to need a horse to replace him,"_

" _I am sure I could find you a new horse," Loki said eagerly and Bjarke chuckled._

" _How good are you at magic?"_

" _Oh, I don't do magic," Loki assured him. Bjarke's grin widened and Loki was left with the impression that he had said absolutely the wrong thing._

" _Oh good…you won't be able to break the curse then…" Bjarke commented and Loki's breathing quickened. He had to get out of here, he realised, even if that meant using his hated magic. Loki concentrated hard on the spell binding his limbs._ Break, break, _he willed but nothing happened, no matter how hard he focused. With an increasing feeling of dismay Loki realised that not doing magic for over 250 years had effectively condemned him. "Well, I am sure that you will be of use to me for a while, you are young still, not yet a man. Svadilfari was older when I turned him, nearly 2000, and all this work has started to take a toll on him. He was a sorcerer too," he informed him, and Loki could feel his panic growing, the muscles in his arms and legs were contracting and relaxing but unable to move any more than that. "Not an especially good one, but still, it meant that in his horse form he was strong, better suited to helping me than an ordinary horse. Of course," he shook his head sadly, "although his mind was more horse-like he did retain some of his own thoughts at the beginning, but I soon made him understand that compliance was the best idea," he finished ominously, fingering the whip on his belt and Loki whimpered involuntarily, remembering the times that Odin had used one on him._

 _Bjarke laughed at this, but then suddenly grew thoughtful. "That would be more difficult…" he muttered to himself. "But not the most difficult spell I have ever cast, it should be doable…and if I am able to get many more magical horses from it…"_

 _Loki wondered what he was talking about but decided that it didn't matter. "I lied about who I am," he announced, figuring that Odin's displeasure would be preferable for once. "I am Loki Odinson, son of Odin Allfather and Queen Frigga, brother of Thor Odinson, heir to the Throne of As-"_

 _Bjarke seemed to think that this was the most amusing thing yet. "Of course you are!"_

" _I am not lying, you will be executed for this!" Loki growled. "That jewel is the Søvnig, and it belongs to my mother, not to Lady Freyja,"_

 _Bjarke frowned, but his conviction did not seem to waver. Instead of letting him go he waved a hand and immediately Loki felt a strange pressure on his tongue._

What have you done? _He tried to say, but no sound came out._

" _That's better," Bjarke commented and Loki wished he still knew how to use his magic so that he could smite him. Or better yet that that Thor would come along and destroy him in one of the violent ways that he had proclaimed he would use to kill the frost giants when he was younger._

 _Bjarke closed his eyes and took a steadying breath before stepping towards Loki, putting a hand on his forehead. A few seconds later Loki could feel Bjarke's power pouring through him. It almost felt like when Odin changed him between his Asgardian and Frost Giant forms, but so much more wrong, more uncomfortable. More excruciating._

 _Loki would have screamed had he had his voice. As it was he drifted in and out of consciousness as his limbs stretched into odd angles and he felt the bones of his skull snapping and reforming._

 _What happened next was a haze. He remembered being aware that there was definitely something very, very wrong with his body, he was suddenly a different height, and his eyes could see around him in a way that they hadn't been able to before._

 _He was still unable to move his body, but out of his strangely placed eyes he could see Bjarke striding over to Svadilfari, loosening him from the cart, and placing a hand over the horse's head. Immediately, the Svadilfari's ears drew forwards and his attention shifted to Loki._

 _The next day was a blur. He knew that he had been released from something, and that he had attacked Bjarke. He also knew that Svadilfari had done something terrible, but he couldn't think about that, there wasn't time, he needed to run, to escape, to get as far away as possible._

 _He ran through the forest, desperately trying not to let instinct take over, trying to keep his own mind. He wouldn't become a horse. He wouldn't. He was Loki, Loki of Asgard._

 _In moments of lucidity over the passing months, he tried to shift back into his Asgardian body, he even tried his Jotun form a few times, but there was something inside of him that was preventing him from changing, and he knew that it was not just his inexperience of magic. In horror (mixed with the contented feelings of his mare form as she foraged for food in the woods) he realised that he was pregnant. That he was going to give birth. To a horse._

 _The actual event was a fog of agony and confusion, but both Asgardian Loki and horse Loki knew that as they snuggled next to the small foal (an awkward gangling mess of limbs) that they had never loved anything more._ You are a monster, _Loki thought, looking at the eight-legged creature,_ but you are my monster, and you are so very special.

 _The mare fighting for control of his mind was terrified the first time that the foal turned into an Asgardian baby. Loki was fascinated and delighted as he fought to suppress the mare's instincts, to keep the child safe._ If we manage to get out of this _, he thought,_ if he manages to stay in his Asgardian form, perhaps I will be able to find someone who will take pity on him and look after him, and maybe they would keep me in the stables if I'm lucky, and I could see him grow up. _When Loki gently prodded the baby with one of his hooves he gurgled and turned back into an eight-legged horse._

 _Loki was less pleased when the babe turned himself into a Frost Giant. But still, his love for the child did not change and he found himself observing the baby with interest. He seemed no different in this form than in the Asgardian one, except for the lines adorning his forehead. He knew that loving his son was a terrible thing to do, he was a Frost Giant after all, and a shapeshifting monstrous horse, but Loki couldn't find it in himself to care. His son was perfect, even when he was blue._

 _Loki lamented that his neighs could not convey how very important the child was to him. Sleipnir, he would name him if he were ever able to speak again, but he was forced to settle with repeating the name over and over in his mind as he watched over the foal. He just hoped that the milk he provided would be enough to sustain the child. In his darker moods he despaired, and he felt the gloom of mare-Loki too. He knew that there was no saving either of them. Loki had been injured in the birth, and he grew weaker and weaker. His injuries healed slowly and prevented him from going to find food or drink from anything other than the murky puddle of rainwater on the cave floor. Soon, he knew that he would die, and his milk would dry up. Sleipnir would have no source of food and would therefore die soon after._

 _Odin's arrival up was less than a miracle, even with their certain death looming, and more of an extremely mixed blessing, bordering on a nasty surprise._

 _Odin towered over his body, which was lying on his side on the floor. He picked Sleipnir up roughly and Loki kicked out at him belatedly, letting out a weak neigh. He could see Odin looking at Sleipnir curiously as Sleipnir instinctively changed himself into his Asgardian form._

" _Well, Loki, I cannot say that this surprises me," Odin said gravely. "You spawned a monster,"_

Let him go! _Loki wanted to scream._ He's just a child, my child, it doesn't matter if he's a monster, let him go!

" _It took us a while to find you," Odin said, cradling Sleipnir in his arms and looking vaguely disgusted. He continued in a superior tone, "it was a few days before we knew you were missing. The only reason we managed to find you was Frigga's realisation that Søvnig had been taken. She was unwilling to believe that you had stolen it, and see Loki, how I still have not told her of your true birth even though you have shamed me thus, but I knew that you were the thief. Frigga managed to trace the signature of the jewel, and we found Lord Bjarke, Freyja's former fiancé, who told us that he had turned you into a horse, before Thor smashed his skull in with Mjolnir in his misplaced-rage for you. Even though we knew now that you had been transformed it took Frigga and I a while to find you, your magical signature was muffled by your horse form..._

" _Now, what shall we do with your child?" he asked, his grip tightening around Sleipnir, who started to wail._

 _Loki let out a weak neigh of distress and tried to struggle to his feet, but collapsed back on his side after a few seconds of attempting to roll over. Odin scoffed at him._

" _Do not fear Loki, I will tell neither Frigga nor Thor about your child. Nor will I kill him. Although he is undoubtedly a monstrous beast, he can be tamed, and a magical horse has useful powers. I will use him as my own steed as he will be able to cope with long distances and travel to other realms better than most,"_

 _Loki watched helplessly as Odin cast a spell over Sleipnir, turning him back into his horse form. From the light emanating from his son he could tell that the spell was essentially permanent, like the one Odin had used on him._

 _With that done, Odin placed Sleipnir back on the ground and turned to Loki. He reached down, putting a hand between Loki's ears, and Loki could feel him undoing Bjarke's curse. He writhed in agony on the floor, his pained horse sounds gradually turning into screams. When his screams had quietened into sobs he looked around him in confusion, which changed to sheer panic when he saw that Odin had once again picked up Sleipnir and he was holding him in such a way that one of his hands gripped the horse's throat._

" _You should be grateful that I am giving the beast a chance to be useful." Odin told him. "But listen well Loki, you are extremely fortunate that I have decided to grant you another chance, and that I will not tell everyone of your mistakes. If you dare to do anything like this, to have any more monsters again, I_ will _kill them,"_

" _Let him go, give him back to me!" Loki demanded, his voice barely audible due to the dryness of his throat, before coughing violently, his bloody and emaciated body spasming involuntarily due to the pain in his stomach that the coughing had worsened._

" _Do you understand?" Odin demanded, his grip on Sleipnir's neck tightening._

 _Loki could do nothing but agree._

-M-

Tony flung himself dejectedly into his chair and ran a hand over his face, sighing. Dum-E beeped unhappily and trundled over to him, but Tony waved him away.

His date with Pepper had been a disaster.

No, that wasn't exactly true.

It had gone well at first. Tony had shown up on time, in his favourite antique car. He had held the door open for Pepper graciously and she had slipped inside, smiling sweetly. He had even kept to the speed limits on the way to the restaurant. That was, of course, not to say that he couldn't drive safely at high speeds, but it worried Pepper, so he hadn't, and that was what was important. He had set Jarvis on the task of finding out Pepper's favourite restaurant in Malibu, and she was delighted by the choice, even if she did ask him if Jarvis had picked it out. But hey, he had created Jarvis, so that basically meant that he'd picked the restaurant, didn't it?

During the meal though, everything had gone downhill.

They'd tried not to talk about it, but somehow every single topic of conversation had led back to Stark Industries, like they had nothing to talk about besides that. Well, Tony had Iron Man, but Pepper was adamant that now was not the time to talk about his suits. Tony had conceded that this was probably a good idea. After all, she couldn't understand all the terminology or the science that he would begin to babble about, and talking about the suit did run the risk that he would ignore her and start scribbling ideas on one of the expensive linen napkins the restaurant had provided. So Iron Man had not been a topic of conversation. Unfortunately that had not left much that could be.

To make matters worse, halfway through their meal, three armed robbers had strode into the restaurant, demanding the watches, jewellery and money from all the high class customers. The suit was with Happy, Tony had realised with a sinking heart. A terrified boy had tried to make a break for it, and Tony had thrown them both to the ground a second before a bullet would have pierced the child.

One of the thieves had stalked over to where Tony lay on the floor, frantically telling the kid to keep down.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the famous Tony Stark," the masked man had drawled. "Thank you for this, by the way," he said, gesturing to the pistol he held in one hand.

 _It's one of mine_ , Tony had realised with growing horror, desperately trying to keep the memories of Obie and the Ten Rings at bay. The adrenaline had been helpful with that, he mused.

"I have a new suggestion for a deal!" the man had announced. "Give us the Iron Man suit, and these people can keep their stuff,"

Tony had sighed. "I don't have it with me,"

The man had shot inches above the boy's head. "Are you sure about that?" The boy had sobbed into the sleeve of Tony's expensive suit jacket (not that he minded about the suit, he ruined them all the time, perks of being an engineer and a billionaire).

Suddenly there was a crash and shards of china came raining down. The man had wobbled, and Tony had used the chance to seize the gun from him, before spinning round and shooting the other two robbers. Luckily their shots at him had missed; one had hit the man in the shoulder (which had gushed blood, some of which had splattered on Tony) and the other just put several holes in the expensive wallpaper.

After that the chaos had really kicked in.

Tony couldn't quite believe that it had ended well, that no one else but two of the robbers had died, it seemed so impossible that he couldn't feel the relief that came from not dying. It was hard to believe that no one else had died because of him. That was the way things usually went, wasn't it?

Speaking of things that were his fault, evidently, he hadn't managed to track all of the former Stark Industries weapons down. Given that they were now in the hands of armed robbers, perhaps he needed to take a look into the weapons dealing in organised crime? But that could come later, Tony decided, now he needed a distraction that had nothing to do with his weapons…or Pepper.

Pepper had been the one to smash a plate over the robber's head. She had been fantastic, Tony thought bitterly. Unfortunately, Pepper had decided that she couldn't cope with any more life or death situations. And she _meant it_ this time. If he couldn't stop risking his life then she couldn't be with him. And their relationship (and possibly their relationship as colleagues too, but Tony hoped not) had drawn to a close after only one date. Tony supposed he couldn't blame her. He was reckless, selfish, difficult to live with, but all the same he wasn't sure how saving a child's life counted as risking his life unnecessarily. And, surprisingly enough, the confrontation in the restaurant had worked out okay, all the customers and staff had lived!

Tony groaned. Distraction, right.

"Jarvis, bring up all the data on the weird energy signatures in New Mexico,"

At once, all the information about the event appeared on the screens in front of him.

Tony thought for a moment. The information that SHIELD had came from a satellite and was very limited. Was there anyone who would know more? A scientist in the area perhaps. It was a slim chance that they were even aware of the event, but still…

"Jarvis, pull up a list of all scientists and researchers in the New Mexico desert area,"

A few seconds later names started pouring onto the screen. Tony stared at them critically.

"Sir, if I might suggest a certain Jane Foster. She specialises in astrophysics and astronomy and seems to have a certain focus on Einstein Rosen bridges. Other scientists seem to think that she is likeable, if a bit mad,"

"Huh, she might be just what we need J!" Tony said, feeling slightly happier. "If anyone noticed something weird going on, it would have been her. Patch a call through – no wait!"

Why bother calling if he could just hop in his suit and go visit her himself? The exhilaration of flying always cheered him up and he was looking for a distraction after all…

-M-

Loki was woken from his nightmare by an insistent knocking. He lay there for a few seconds, trying to forget the fear in Sleipnir's eyes as Odin had given him to a stable boy and dragged Loki back to the palace. The knocking continued and he heard Darcy scream something about how she was coming, and who drops in at 5am for a social call anyways?

 _Who would?_ Loki wondered. _These mortals do not seem the type to wake early to go out on a hunt, not like those on Asgard._ A bright bolt of fear jerked through him and he scrambled to his feet. What if it were Asgard, here for him? He wanted to run, but he knew he couldn't, mortals were cleverer than he or anyone on Asgard had recognised, but they were still mortal, he could not allow them to harm Darcy.

Loki raced towards the front door as Darcy pulled it open, taser at the ready.

"Hi," a man dressed in a red and gold suit of armour of the strangest design he had ever seen greeted Darcy. Her taser clattered to the floor. "I would introduce myself but," he laughed, "you know who I am. I'm looking for Jane Foster…"

It was then that his eyes met Loki's. He gave a small smirk, which Loki, utterly confused by this mortal, couldn't help but return.

 ** _So, I hope you all enjoyed that, from now on Tony will play a bigger part in this story :)_**

 ** _Next up (on Monday again as I am going to an LGBT event over the weekend):_**

 _ **Frigga negotiates with Jotunheim and comes across some concerning information.**_  
 ** _Tony is shocked by the existence of Loki and Asgard._**

 _(As a semi-relevant point to this story, if anyone is suffering with similar issues to Loki (anxiety/panic attacks/ptsd) and would like to talk to some faceless stranger over the internet, you are more than welcome to talk to me. Of course, I would definitely recommend getting a therapist, however when I was 14 and too scared to go to anyone for help, talking to people over fanfic/tumblr helped, and I thought I would extend the offer. My tumblr is stardustloki, or just PM me, I guess : )_


	7. Negotiation

**_A/N, I apologise for the lateness of this chapter, this week has been hectic to say in the least. On the plus side, the next chapter should be up when promised, as I have almost finished typing it up._**

 ** _This chapter feels a bit slower than the last, but at least there is kind of a break from angst!_**

 ** _Once again, I just want to say thank you all for the reviews, follows and favourites, you guys are all fantastic!_**

 **Chapter Seven - Negotiation**

Loki knocked cautiously on the door of Jane's trailer.

When ten seconds later there was still no response he sighed and knocked again. Originally, Darcy had said that she would go and wake Jane, but on seeing Loki's stricken expression at the thought of waking Erik, she had quickly backtracked and given Loki directions to Jane's trailer, making it clear that Jane did not wake up easily, and it was important for him to have no concern for her personal boundaries.

"Jane!" he called. "There is a man in a strange suit of armour named Tony Stark who wishes to speak with you!"

Still, no response.

He sighed and braced himself for the inevitable. Of course, he ran the risk of making Jane very angry by coming into her chambers without her permission, and he couldn't help but feel that their friendship was still on very, very thin ice. Unlike Erik, Jane had yet to discover his bad qualities, but Loki had resolved that he would try his best to be a good person, that way when Erik did tell Jane and Darcy they were more likely to believe that the stories of his wickedness were just tales and nothing else. This, he supposed, proved beyond anything else that he was a monster; lying about his true nature and manipulating people so that they would like him.

Loki slid the key that Darcy had given him into the lock and pushed the handle down. The door opened easily and he stepped inside, looking cautiously about the dark room. He could see Jane sprawled out on the bed that was squashed into the small space, half her covers kicked off and a contented smile on her face.

"Jane," he whispered, before repeating again loudly. "Jane!"

Loki groaned, it seemed that he really would have to follow Darcy's advice. Cautiously, he reached over and shook her slightly, "Jane!"

Jane gasped and jolted awake, jerking away from him.

"Sorry, sorry," Loki muttered, backing away while Jane stared at him in bleary confusion, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. "Darcy sent me to tell you that Tony Stark wishes to speak with you,"

"Come again?"

"Tony Stark wishes to speak with you?"

" _The_ Tony Stark?"

"Yes," Loki replied, remembering how Tony had told Darcy that he would introduce himself, but she knew who he was. Therefore, it stood to reason that he was, as Jane put it, ' _the_ Tony Stark'.

"Oh my god!" Jane exclaimed, scrambling out of bed and pushing past Loki. "I'm in my pyjamas, my hair's a mess, I haven't even- you know what, that doesn't matter. Tony Stark wants to speak to me, _me_!" she continued in childish glee, before grabbing Loki's wrist. "Come on!" she said, dragging Loki out the door and rushing over to the lab.

"So, why are you here again?" Loki could hear Erik asking as soon as Jane had thrown open the door.

"Came to see if you knew anything about some weird energy readings over the New Mexico desert," Tony said nonchalantly as they rounded the corner into the kitchen.

At once, an uncomfortable silence fell over the room as Jane, Darcy and Erik's gazes immediately fell on Loki, and then they looked at each other in panic, clearly debating how much to let Tony know.

Loki could see Tony sitting on the kitchen worksurface, swinging his legs and looking at them all in amusement. "So, I'm taking that as a yes," he said, then grinned at Loki. "And I'm guessing it has something to do with you?"

Loki's gaze stayed locked on Tony's. He was terrified. He had absolutely no clue who this Tony Stark was, beyond that he was fairly famous, and thus was unsure about what he would do with him once he learned that he was from another world. Was Jane breaking the law by allowing him to stay in her lab? What's more, how had Tony managed to trace them? The possibilities for things going wrong were endless.

Darcy seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "How did you know about the energy, and that we had anything to do with it,"

"I didn't," Tony said simply, calmly chewing on a grape from the fruit-bowl. "I was hacking into SHIELD's servers, looking for any information on alien lifeforms, when I found a record of unexplainable energy signatures from over the New Mexico desert. I searched for scientists in the area, and I figured if anyone knew anything about it, it would be you,"

"SHIELD know about this?" Erik demanded, sounding alarmed.

"SHIELD know about the energy, they don't know anything about you…yet," Tony attempted to clarify, but was talked over by Erik.

"I'm sorry Jane but he has to go," he said firmly, pointing at Loki with more than a hint of panic in his voice.

"We're not sending him anywhere," Jane replied angrily, and Loki felt a rush of happiness. Jane didn't want him to leave, and even if it were just because he could help them with science it was nice to be wanted. On the other hand, Erik could tell them what a monster he was at any time he pleased, so maybe leaving before they found out was for the best, at least he would never have to see their expressions of hatred and disgust.

"No Jane, you don't understand," Erik pleaded. "I knew this scientist, a pioneer in gamma radiation. SHIELD showed up and he was never heard from again!"

"Then that's a risk we have to take."

"Jane, I am not willing to risk your-"

"What's so special about you?" Tony interrupted, looking curiously at Loki.

"Absolutely nothing," Loki assured him evenly at the same moment as Darcy announced:

"He's an alien,"

Tony's eyes lit up in interest. "An alien huh? Gotta admit I was expecting something more interesting, you know: green skin, scales, tentacles, that kinda thing,"

"Sorry to disappoint," Loki said drily, trying to hide his discomfort at the intensity of Tony's gaze and to definitely not think about his Jotun form.

"How did you get here?" Tony asked. "I'm assuming you were the cause of the weird readings?"

Loki opened his mouth to reply, but he was cut across by Jane's exhilarated voice.

"He came here through an _Einstein-Rosen bridge_!"

"You're kidding!"

"They call it the Bifrost, but it is basically an Einstein-Rosen bridge, but it doesn't need a black hole to work. Loki was telling us all about it and it is fascinating! There are basically millions of scientific discoveries just waiting to be unlocked! Did you know magic _actually_ exists!"

"Well Dr Foster," Tony shot her a winning smile. "That all sounds very awesome. Would you like way more funding (we both know that that college doesn't pay you well enough), technology beyond your wildest dreams and SHIELD off your back? Because, I'm gonna be honest with you, I really want to build an Einstein-Rosen bridge and learn the deepest secrets of the universe from an extremely attractive alien,"

Tony smirked at him and Loki returned the smile weekly. He was well aware that Tony was making fun of him. Odin had made it very clear that in terms of his looks he was very lacking. No one could ever want a pale, scrawny, dark-haired man such as himself. He had often wondered why, if Odin had the ability to change his appearance, he had not made him blond haired and blue eyed like the rest of his family, it would certainly have been less likely to arouse suspicion, but had never dared to ask why. Not that it mattered, really. The thought of sex brought up bad memories more often than not, and he had realised long ago that he wasn't attracted to women, no matter how fair or graceful they may be. That was just another reason why he was such a freakish monster, and not a proper Asgardian. He couldn't help but wish that someone would genuinely find him attractive though, just to make him feel a bit better about himself. Angrboda's compliments didn't count, as in hindsight it was very clear that she had only been trying to manipulate him; but, he told himself, he really needed to stop thinking about her. This man, intelligent and famous as he was, definitely wouldn't actually be complimenting him, particularly as men who fell for other men were unnatural, and genuinely proclaiming attraction in front of other people would be nothing short of completely emasculating.

"That sounds amazing!" Jane exclaimed, gazing at Tony Stark as if he held all the secrets in the universe, as Loki fell deep into his train of self-loathing thoughts.

-m-

"Cool," Tony said. Now, to the more difficult part. Of course, they could stay and work here, but if he were even slightly honest, he needed Jarvis, his bots and his holograms, so now he needed to convince them to come stay with him. Him, with his antisocial tendencies, strange working hours, and impulsive mind that jumped between project to project in a way that left most people angry and completely bewildered.

He threw another grape into his mouth. "So, if you wanted to come to mine you'd all have your own rooms, 200 inch flat-screen TVs, a fantastic view of the beach, not to mention-"

"We're going to your Malibu mansion?" Darcy asked and he nodded, plucking another grape out of the fruit-bowl. "Sweet!"

Tony grinned at her; one down, three to go.

"For how long, and when, and what would we do there?" Jane asked, seeming to believe that this was too good to be true.

"From whenever you'd like me to send the jet and for as long as it takes us to build an Einstein-Rosen bridge and permanently alter humanity's perception of the universe,"

"I'm in," Jane nodded. "Would I be able to bring my equipment?"

"Sure," Tony agreed, it would be no problem, however much or little she wanted he definitely had a plane that could transport it all.

He turned his attention to Loki, who was avoiding eye contact and fiddling with the sleeves of the clothes that practically seemed to hang off him. Whoever's clothes they were, they were clearly made for someone with a lot of muscle or meat on their bones. The only reason they didn't completely swamp him was because of how gorgeously tall he was.

 _No, no, stop that thought there_ , Tony berated himself. Despite the fact that from the moment Loki had smirked at him through the doorway he had known he was ridiculously attracted to the alien, Loki had clearly been uncomfortable with Tony's earlier comment, even if he had tried to hide it. And although Tony flirted with people left, right and centre, he really, really wanted Loki to like him. Besides, he had only just broken up with Pepper, and who knew, maybe she would eventually accept the danger that came with him being Iron Man and take him back?

"Jane, we need to talk about this…" Erik said cautiously, eyeing Tony suspiciously. Tony suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. Doubtless, his reputation as a playboy and for being selfish and uncaring, dropping people as soon as they had outlived his interest, preceded him, and Erik wanted to keep Jane safe from him.

"So talk," Jane challenged, clearly not one to be talked out of working with Tony Stark.

Erik gritted his teeth uncomfortably, and his gaze flicked to Tony. "Not here,"

"Fine, but make it quick," Jane said, sighing and following him out the room.

"I better go make sure they don't go kill each other," Darcy muttered, and Tony and Loki were left alone.

Tony could sense Loki's reluctance at being left in the room with him and he grimaced.

"So, how're you finding earth?" he asked, putting on his best mask. He was Tony Stark, nothing could bother him unless he let it.

"It is…interesting," Loki said pleasantly, meeting Tony's eyes. But Tony hadn't grown up a Stark and had to deal with backstabbing business partners and the paparazzi for nothing, he knew Loki's calm was forced. But, he had to admit, Loki was very convincing, and he might have fallen for it were he anyone else. "Different from what I remember. You didn't have those machines that shine beams of light last time I was here, nor did you use cars,"

"What, flashlights?" Tony questioned. "Yeah, they're pretty useful…how old are you, you can't have been here for a while if you think _those_ are new things."

"I am slightly over 1000 years of age, so I am young still for an Asgardian," Loki replied and Tony raised his eyebrows and exhaled.

"We must be like ants to you then," Tony laughed. He had no chance with Loki, none at all.

"On the contrary," Loki replied, smiling at Tony, his expression now genuine as far as Tony could tell. "I think you are all quite remarkable,"

-M-

No sooner had Frigga landed on Jotunheim than a group of Jotuns approached her, ice already forming from their hands. Clearly, she noted, they had been sent to guard the Bifrost site due to the oncoming war.

"State your purpose here, Asgardian," the largest demanded. Frigga assumed by his demeanour and the fact that the others were hanging back slightly, that he was the leader of their small group.

"I am Frigga, Queen of Asgard, and I am here to negotiate a treaty with Laufey, King of Jotunheim," she said calmly, adjusting her cloak slightly. She may have imbued it with as many heating spells as she knew, but there was a limit to how much she could do against the pervasive cold of Jotunheim.

"And why has Odin sent you?" the Frost Giant questioned. "Surely, he'd want to keep his most precious wife as far away as possible from danger,"

Frigga smiled sweetly as the veiled insult. "The Allfather has sent me because I am best suited for the task," she replied evenly.

"Very well," the Jotun said. "But do not expect King Laufey to spare you,"

With that they led her towards the ruins of the Jotun palace. It pained Frigga how much Jotunheim had fallen into disrepair. Often, she had argued that the Jotuns had been punished enough, that 400 years, 500, 800… was enough for them to learn their lesson, that they deserved Asgard's help to rebuild, that they should have their Casket back. Odin, ever stubborn as he was supposedly wise, had refused each time.

After several minutes they arrived at the ruins, and Frigga stared up at Laufey, seated high upon his throne. She couldn't deny, even with the room in the state it was, that he looked powerful. Actually, quite like Loki when he wanted to make a grand statement, she mused and almost smirked at the thought. She was, however, nothing if not the perfect and controlled Queen of Asgard, and was not about to show any emotions other than those strictly necessary.

"King Laufey," she greeted, bowing her head slightly. After all, she was a guest in his realm, and she should show him the due courtesy.

"Queen Frigga," Laufey returned, his tone surprisingly respectful. Perhaps, Frigga thought, he remembered the times they had spent together in their childhood, when relations between Vanaheim and Jotunheim had been good. More likely though, Frigga had allowed herself to be influenced by Asgard's interpretation of the Frost Giants, and they were not remotely the impolite brutes that the rest of Asgard claimed they were. She had always tried to keep the disparaging stories away from Loki and Thor, unfortunately though, she couldn't control everyone, and she knew that she had not been able to protect either of her sons from the negative sentiments.

"I am here to discuss a treaty that will prevent further warfare," she said simply.

Laufey looked at her stonily. "It is too late. Your boy wanted war, and war he will get,"

"Yes, however, war is what _neither_ of our peoples want," Frigga replied. "We do not need to let this come to more senseless death."

She suppressed the urge to take a step backwards as Laufey began to laugh bleakly. "We have already had senseless death, and we have nothing left to lose,"

"Odin has banished the one responsible," Frigga argued. This was technically a lie, at least in her opinion. But according to Odin it was true, and it was likely Laufey would assume she were talking about Thor. Undoubtedly, he had started the violence and caused the most death here.

"The one responsible?" Laufey scoffed and Frigga's heart fell. "Jotunheim crumbles in our lack of power. We are dying, slowly, and you would talk of responsibility? Why does Odin not banish himself if he is so concerned?"

"We can help you rebuild," Frigga assured him. She wasn't sure how long she would have before Odin came out of the Odinsleep, but hopefully there would be time enough to make a start, and Odin would be amenable when he woke.

"Oh, of course," Laufey replied mock-cheerfully, then his voice took on a darker tone. "I know what you think of us, your people would rather slaughter than help us. That is why we would go to war to reclaim the Casket, at least it is a quicker death than the one Odin _Allfather_ has condemned us to,"

"I am sure that if we work together, we will be able to find some alternative," Frigga countered, careful to let none of the desperation she felt seep into her voice. At least, she consoled herself, if this went badly she would be able to use her magic to fight her way out of there. However, it was not really her own well-being that concerned her, but the wellbeing of Asgard and Jotunheim, and, by extension, the rest of the nine realms.

"We will accept nothing less than the Casket," Laufey replied coldly.

At this, Frigga could not help the bitter laugh that escaped her lips. "Odin will never condone that," she told him with absolute certainty.

"Then you condemn your warriors to death," he stated, then appeared thoughtful. "Where is Odin? I expected him to come himself rather than send his own wife, so-called cowardice is not in his nature,"

 _He's in the Odinsleep,_ Frigga thought bitterly, but didn't dare to voice it. It would not do to let the world that wanted to invade them know that Asgard was without its king. But that was what was important, was it not? Odin was in the Odinsleep, he couldn't stop her handing over the Casket. The only problem would be his reaction when he woke up, what he would do for revenge; would he try to get it back, would he choose to obliterate Jotunheim?

"If I were to get the Casket," Frigga said, with more than a hint of trepidation. "Would you make peace with us and swear not to invade other realms?"

"I want only for my people to survive. If you were to give us this we could have a future that does not only end in our death," Laufey's eyes bored into Frigga's. "Could you do it?"

Frigga set her jaw and looked at him in determination. "I could,"

Laufey smirked. "You are not the first Asgardian to promise this,"

"What do you mean?" Frigga asked, her voice uncertain. Of course, she knew he was talking about Loki, but she couldn't let on that she knew that someone from her own family had committed treason.

"He disguised himself as a young Jotun, and claimed that he had ties to your palace. He said he would help my people steal the Casket. I was unaware of the plan at the time," Laufey added, making it implicitly clear that he should not be prosecuted for conspiring against Asgard. "But it was evident from talking to those involved afterwards that he was an Asgardian shapeshifter. The people who went to get the Casket did not return; I am correct, I assume, in believing them to be dead?"

Frigga nodded, frowning. As far as she was aware Loki could not shapeshift, maybe he was not the only one to offer the Frost Giants access to the Casket of Ancient Winters? "Oh, and what was the name of this man?" she asked, this was something she needed to investigate. Or, alternatively someone she could ally with in her growing acts of treason.

"Loptr,"

Frigga's heart turned to ice and her breath caught in her throat. She was certain, that despite promising herself that she would control the emotions that she displayed at all times, that Laufey had noticed her reaction. She knew that Loptr was the name that Loki had taken on when trying to trick the man who had been betrothed to Lady Freyja, all those years ago…Bjarke, she thought his name had been. Bjarke had been horrified that Loptr, the messenger boy who he had turned into a horse and left wandering around the woods, was actually Loki, second prince of Asgard. Or at least he had been until Thor had smashed his head in. Although Frigga was not one to enjoy violence for violence's sake, and she did wish that Thor had waited so that they could have got more information and Loki wouldn't have had to wander round the forest as a horse, alone until Odin had found him, she could admit to herself that it was a rather satisfying end to 'the builder', as Freyja now disparagingly referred to him.

However, this did raise the question of how much Loki knew. Did he think that he was Asgardian, and could just shapeshift between the two forms? But surely he had realised that it would be far easier to turn into a Jotun than back again. After all, it was only Odin's spell that made him look like Loki, and if he had broken that turning into a Frost Giant, it would require a large amount of concentration and magic to make himself look like Loki again. Frigga realised that she definitely needed to talk to Loki, sooner rather than later, and preferentially while he was still far away from Asgard, as he was likely very confused by the strangeness in his shapeshifting.

However, she was Queen of Asgard, and its Regent, albeit illegally, and she needed to get back to the matter at hand. "You do realise that even with the Casket, attacking Asgard would be tantamount to suicide, your forces would not be strong enough," she warned, her voice steady.

"Hm, we would still kill many of yours." Laufey smiled slightly. "But you are right, it would not be worth it. I give you my word that if you allow us to have the Casket it will heal some of the wounds between our peoples, and lead us towards a lasting peace,"

 _Perhaps not,_ Frigga thought abruptly, _I have been thinking so much about Odin's reaction, that I have not thought about the reactions of the others of Asgard._ With a sinking heart she realised that this was going to be even more difficult to pull off than she had originally thought. But maybe if she spun it to show how pitiful Jotuns were, and that it would be dishonourable and cowardly to not give them the Casket back (after all, any true Asgardian would be able to face their fears and deal with the Jotuns if they became a threat), and got Thor, the golden child of Asgard, beloved by all, to make a few speeches, then perhaps it would still be manageable.

"Then you have my word that the Casket will be delivered to you," Frigga said, the words sounding bitter on her tongue. There was more than a slight chance that she would not be able to transfer the Casket to them, and if she did not she would irrevocably lose her honour, an oath could never be taken lightly.

"Be warned," Laufey said gravely. "If you take too long to bring it to us, and it seems that your oath is broken, we will still wage war on Asgard,"

-M-

When, some time later, she arrived back in the observatory, Heimdall regarded her with overt suspicion in his golden eyes. It was the expression that he had held since Odin had fallen into the Odinsleep. Frigga's fear that he knew that she had taken the Throne illegally grew stronger with every moment she spent in his presence. However, she consoled herself, he had not chosen to act against her, not yet at least.

"Odin would not approve of you handing over the Casket to the Frost Giants," he told her gravely and she stared back at him unwaveringly.

"Perhaps not," Frigga said, tilting her head a little in agreement. "However, he is not available for counsel at the moment, and I will do what I must to prevent a war,

"Now, if you would take me to Midgard, I must speak with Loki,"

Heimdall frowned. "My Queen, he has been banished for a reason,"

Frigga scoffed. "You see everything, Heimdall, you know as well as I that Loki was not the one who deserved banishment,"

An uneasy feeling crept into Frigga's stomach as Heimdall gave no sign that he agreed with what she was saying. At least, if he betrayed her and chose to leave her stranded on Midgard, her magic and Loki's knowledge of the paths through Yggdrasil should ensure that she would not be cut off from Asgard.

"So, if you would take me to Loki, Heimdall," she said, and Heimdall wearily plunged his sword into the Bifrost.

 _ **So, I hope you all enjoyed that :)**_

 _ **Next up (on Sunday night/Monday morning as I will have no wifi for most of the weekend):**_ ** _Frigga and Loki have a long needed talk (you can probably all guess what it is going to be about!)_**


	8. Understanding

_**A/N: Welcome back, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, I've been looking forward to this one for ages!**_

 _ **Thank you all for the reviews, follows and favourites, you all make my day :D**_

 _ **On this chapter: in case you feel like Frigga's reactions are disproportionate, I feel like it's important to note that even though Odin murdered baby Hela over 1000 years ago, Frigga has never really got over her grief. She had no one to talk to about it, and had to just go about her daily life pretending that nothing had happened, everything was fine, and that her husband was a kind, fair and just man (she convinced herself of this so hard that she almost believed it) but she has never really been able to properly process her grief.**_

 _ **19/02/2018**_

 **Chapter Eight – Understanding**

Loki was sitting on the sofa, reading an article on Einstein-Rosen bridges, when there came a knock at the front door. He paid it no mind as he scrolled down the article on the tablet he was reading, wincing as he came across a particularly wrong assumption. Despite the fact that these mortals understood more about the intricate workings of the universe than the average Asgardian, some of the mistakes they made truly were painful. However, understanding the gaps in the mortals' knowledge was essential for explaining exactly how the Bifrost worked, and Tony and Jane (both currently engaged in packing up some of Jane's equipment that was going to be shipped off on the cargo plane that Tony had summoned to them) were relying on him.

"Hi!" he could hear Darcy saying. "Oh my god you're back again, how come you knocked…are you actually here _here_? Whoa, yeah, I can touch you….sorry, was I not meant to do that, was that some alien taboo or something? Why are you actually here?"

"I decided it would be better for me to come in person," came the reply and Loki almost dropped the tablet in shock. What had happened that his mother would choose to actually travel here? Had she had to flee Asgard? Had Odin woken and told her what he was? "It is absolutely vital that I speak to my son as soon as possible,"

He stood as purposefully as he could and strode over to where Darcy and his mother stood. "Mother, what brings you here? Is all well in Jotunheim, has the Allfather awakened?"

He noted that she was carrying the cloak she used when she needed to travel to colder climates. She had just returned from Jotunheim then. What could be so important that she would immediately come to him?

"Do not worry Loki, all is well," his mother fixed him with a smile that was warm, but clearly strained. Clearly everything was not well, Loki realised. "I merely need to speak with you in private, I have been negotiating with the Jotuns and Laufey said a few things that concerned me,"

Loki maintained the most neutral face that he could manage, trying to push down the anxiety that threatened to overwhelm him. Concerned about what? Did Frigga know? Did she suspect that he was a Frost Giant… no, that could not be the case; if it were she would already have made her hatred and disgust for him plain. The last time they had talked she had told him that they were not monsters, that they were rational, but she couldn't really believe that.

"May we have somewhere private to discuss matters?" Frigga enquired and Darcy shrugged.

"Sure, I guess you can have my room." Darcy said, and set off down the hall. "I mean, it's not super clean or anything, but Jane and Erik won't have any reason to walk in, and it's better than the bathroom." She pushed open the door and Loki looked round in bemusement at the semi-organised chaos that was Darcy's room. Clothes and other assorted items seemed to be sorted into piles in a way that suggested that there was reasoning for grouping them together, but what the reasoning was, Loki couldn't tell.

"This will be fine, Darcy," Frigga assured her.

"Awesome, is there anything else you need?"

"No, that will be all, thank you,"

"Okay, see you later then," and with that Darcy shut the door and Loki was left in the room with his mother. Loki watched her place her cloak down on the cluttered desk and twist her hands together; he realised with a sinking heart that whatever she wanted to talk about must indeed be very important. His mother was usually the epitome of controlled grace, but now…

"I think, first, I should tell you that I have sworn an oath to give the Jotuns back their Casket," Frigga began, looking him directly in the eyes so Loki could see how serious she was about this.

Loki let out a laugh of pure horror. "Mother, have you completely lost your wits? You cannot do this, you cannot give the Frost Giants their strongest weapon. They are savage murderers and will kill our warriors, they will invade other realms and they will kill women and children. You cannot give these _monsters_ the means to carry out their despicable ways!"

"Loki, the Jotuns are _dying_ ," Frigga implored, looking strangely like Loki's words were causing her physical pain. "We cannot keep doing this to them, your father has been killing them, slowly, by taking the Casket away from them, and I cannot allow myself to be complicit in this, not any longer,"

"They are monsters, it matters not that they are dying, they deserve it. They will kill people mother, do you not understand this?" Loki cried frantically.

"They are _not_." Frigga replied fiercely. "Loki, they are in absolutely no place to mount an effective campaign against any realm and they know it. They do not deserve to be punished for mistakes made over a thousand years ago, people can _change_. And anyhow, there is so much more to the story of their invasion of Midgard than Odin than Asgard will admit…oh, there is so much I am going to need to tell you tonight…But Loki," she sighed, and Loki was sure that in that moment, despite her being just over a hundred years shy of 3000, that she looked older than the Allfather. "I think you should sit down, because I need to tell you something. And at first you may be very hurt, and confused, and you have every right to be, because I have failed you, and for that I am sorry. But, I hope, in time that you will see that what I am going to tell you proves that Frost Giants are not monsters,"

Loki glanced down at his mother's hands, she was twisting her fingers even more insistently now, her jaw was tight and her eyes held a frazzled look that Loki wasn't sure he'd ever seen before. No, that wasn't true, he mused, he had seen it briefly, from far away, directed at the Allfather.

"Odin said that we should keep this from you, I argued, of course, but I accepted then that he knew best…"

"Mother, you cannot keep saying things like that, if he hears you…" Loki warned her, frowning. Frigga's recent behaviour had been odd, to say in the least. She had always spoken her mind, but, she had never before gone against the Allfather's will so strongly. It was rumoured that Odin could see and hear anything he wished when in the Odinsleep and Loki had discovered that this was, unfortunately, true when Odin had cornered him after his last; so, what did she think she was doing?

Frigga waved her hand dismissively. "I have cast a cloaking spell. But that is beside the point. I will not get out of this unscathed, of this I am sure, so I know that it is best to tell you the truth while I am still able to do so, I cannot make things worse for myself. Loki please sit down," Frigga said suddenly, and Loki lowered himself hesitantly down onto Darcy's bed (it was, perhaps, not proper etiquette, but from what he knew of Darcy he didn't think she would mind). Abruptly, Frigga began to pace in the now slightly larger space, seemingly talking to herself, and Loki's concern for her, and also for what she was about to reveal, grew further. "Perhaps, when I give them the Casket, after Odin wakes up he will go and slaughter them all…but they are dying anyway, like Laufey said, quicker is better…I owe it to them to help…but I digress…Loki, you need to understand that this changes nothing, and that it shows that you are wrong about the Jotuns…"

Loki stared at her in bewilderment as she suddenly grew unnaturally still before looking at him dead in the eyes and saying simply.

"Loki, you are a Frost Giant,"

Loki felt his world collapsing beneath him. She knew, how did she know? It had been so long he supposed he had almost become complacent, a part of him hadn't really expected her to find out. But here she was, his mother, standing in front of him and saying the words of his nightmares. Distantly, he realised that Frigga was still talking.

"…I am sorry…tell you before…changes…"

"When? When did he tell you?" Loki managed to gasp out through the drowning sensation in his head.

"What do you mean?" Frigga asked, and Loki concentrated, trying to form a coherent sentence.

"When did Odin tell you? How long…have you known?"

Frigga let out a confused laugh, and Loki could see an expression of complete perplexion creep across her face.

"I've always known…I knew before the first time I had even held you in my arms…"

At this point Loki burst into nigh hysterical tears. Frigga had known, so this, all of this had been for _nothing_? Why had he even bothered pretending that he wasn't a monster when he had never fooled her in the first place? Who else knew? Did Thor? Was this all an elaborate ruse? Laugh at the poor, wicked Frost Giant as it futilely tries to be good, to hide what it is. Oh, he must have been so pathetically amusing. Loki felt the mattress next to him sink and he stilled, knowing with absolute certainty that this was the point where his wonderful mother ( _no, not mother, Loki, stop calling her that_ ) would change. Would she just use her bare hands to beat him as Odin sometimes did, or would she decide to use her magic?

He flinched as she touched him, but his fear partially turned to confusion as he felt her draw him into an embrace. What was she doing? Was this just another cruel ( _no, not cruel, because Frost Giants are the cruel ones, and they deserve everything they get_ ) trick?

Frigga rocked gently, pulling him close to her, her chin resting on his shoulder. Loki wasn't sure whether he wanted to draw away or make the most of it while it lasted.

"Loki…" Frigga asked hesitantly. "How long have you known?"

Loki forced himself to ignore the confusion he felt with these words and to answer her question. It wouldn't do to stoke extra wrath by ignoring her.

"Since I was 237," Loki whispered hoarsely.

"Oh Loki," he heard Frigga say, her voice full of regret, and he felt something drip onto his shoulder. Was his- was Frigga crying too? "I have failed as a parent, haven't I? We kept this secret from you because we never wanted you to feel different. I knew that I could never shield you from the attitudes of most Asgardians, so perhaps it was better for you not to know… Loki, you must understand that you are my son just as much as Thor and that I love you,"

Loki gave a sort of hiccoughing laugh. He could never be her son as much as Thor, he wasn't even her blood, and he was from an evil race of monsters. Why was she saying this, it didn't make any sense!

"You…mentioned Odin…" Frigga continued, suddenly sounding very alarmed. "Loki, how did you discover that you were a Jotun?"

"I was trying to turn myself into a snake…" Loki explained shakily (and why was she asking for this, did she not already know? Why was she pretending she didn't?) "But I turned myself into my Jotun form instead. Odin…he changed me back,"

Loki jerked away as Frigga jumped to her feet.

"What?" she just about screamed, and Loki drew away from her, watching in confusion as she started pacing in front of him again, sparks of magic seeming to flicker out from her hands. "He _knew_ about this?"

Loki's eyes widened; he had never seen his mother this incensed, nor this out of control in his life, not even when Thor had been 462 and decided that that was a fine age to go slay a bilgesnipe. "He _forbade_ me from telling you, he said it was for the best, he refused to hear any different. I said it would be better if you knew who you were, and that you were loved, because what would happen if you found out by accident? Well, look what did! And Norns know what Odin has been feeding you for centuries, he certainly hasn't been teaching you that Frost Giants are just as good and deserving of love as any Asgardian-"

"Love?" Loki couldn't help but laugh brokenly and Frigga fixed him with the most wretched gaze he had ever seen.

"Yes," she whispered. "Loki you are my son, and you are so very special to me,"

Loki couldn't help the tears that began to slip down his cheeks again. Could this all be real, might she actually accept him, love him? No, she couldn't, no one could. Odin had made that very plain. And if she knew about this, what else did she know about? At once a blazing rage swept through Loki.

"What else did you know, what other secrets have I kept needlessly, pretending that I wasn't a despicable monster?" Frigga opened her moth wordlessly but he ploughed ahead. "Did you know what Svadilfari did to me, Angrboda? What about Sleipnir, Jormungand, Hela, Fenr-"

"Hela?" Frigga snapped, her face draining of colour as she gripped the nearest object – Darcy's chest of drawers. Loki could see her struggling to find words, seemingly distraught. "How do you know about Hela? He wouldn't tell you that. Child murder is hardly-"

"Murder!" Loki interrupted, momentary panic coursing through him before he remembered and forced himself to remain calm. He shook his head slightly in incomprehension. "He can't kill Hela, she's the Goddess of Death…"

Frigga ran a hand through her uncharacteristically unperfect hair and looked at him wildly, and Loki found that this terrified him. He wasn't sure who this woman was, but she couldn't possibly be his mother. "No, she wasn't," she cried. "I know she wasn't, I can feel it in my soul that she wasn't, and then he…he…"

"Mother," Loki said firmly. "What has Odin done to my child?"

"Your child?" Frigga stared at him in crazed bewilderment. "No…Hela was my child…my second born,"

Loki was sure that they both understood at the same time. "You told me once that if you had a girl you would name her Hela," Loki said slowly. "So, I did, I named her Hela. I had hoped…" he took a deep breath, steadying himself. "That even if she were unnatural, you would be proud of her. I did hope that you would have been proud of all my children…"

"You have children?" Frigga breathed. "Not only was I unaware of one I was unaware of them all! What has he done with them? If he has-"

"They are alive," Loki said shortly.

"But, how, how did I not know?"

"I ran away," Loki replied. "I did not want you to know, because how could you love a creature like me? Because I needed to protect my children. But he found me, both times he found me and I…I couldn't stop him… He said that no one needed to know, that he would allow me to keep up the charade if I would just behave… but I never could 'behave'." Loki laughed bitterly, taking in his mother's expression of horror and regret. She just stared at Loki, seemingly unable to move. "What happened to your Hela?" he asked quietly and Frigga instantly seemed to come back to life again.

"He killed her, he killed her right in front of me and I couldn't…" his mother sobbed and suddenly they were embracing again. "Oh, what has he done to us…"

Loki wasn't sure what to say, he just clung to Frigga like she had saved him from drowning. And she had, he supposed. He had expected hatred, revulsion, dismissal and pain, but his mother hadn't abandoned him, she had always known the truth, and she seemed to be on his side. Loki wasn't entirely sure this wasn't just a very strange dream. _But when Odin finds out…_ Loki suppressed a shiver, _when Odin finds out there'll be no saving either of us._

"He had no right to do that to you, no right," Frigga hissed fiercely and Loki frowned. His mother was expressing some very strange opinions today.

"Mother," he said gently, because he really needed to get her to stop saying such things against Odin. "My children were shapeshifting monsters, and Hela was fated to destroy Asgard. He did what he had to…"

" _I'll_ destroy Asgard," Frigga declared vehemently. "Hela won't even be necessary. I will destroy _everything_ that Odin has built,"

"Mother please stop saying things like this!" Loki cried, taking her by the shoulders and looking seriously into her eyes. "Odin will not tolerate such threats against him,"

Frigga suddenly looked like she had remembered something.

"Loki, I meant to ask earlier, but it did not seem like the appropriate time - has Odin ever hit you?"

Loki almost laughed, Odin had done so much worse than merely hitting him. In fact, he was lucky if that was all he deserved. Instead, he nodded hesitantly. He hadn't wanted Frigga to find out that he was a wicked monster who always got things wrong, but he supposed she knew that anyway.

To his surprise, Frigga seemed incensed at this. "How often, and when did he last harm you?"

Loki wasn't sure how to answer, he wasn't sure if he wanted to. He couldn't tell Frigga of his failures, not when she seemed to still care for him and was apparently unbothered by the fact that he was an evil Frost Giant.

"Loki, please…" his mother begged. "I need to know, I need to know how much I failed to protect you…"

Loki grimaced, then rolled up his sleeve, showing her a small burn mark on the inside of his right arm.

"What?" Frigga asked hesitantly.

"It was much bigger than this before," he explained quietly, looking away. "Odin burned my arm a few weeks ago. He said that he really should use ice, not fire, but there was nothing he could do about that and the effects were the same. He said that if I wanted to act like a Frost Giant I should have a taste of my own medicine,"

"I will slay him where he sleeps!" Frigga exclaimed, and Loki flinched away from her slightly.

"No, mother, you cannot do something so rash! You would not get away with that, how could you even think such a thing!" Loki said in horror, unsure of what had got into his mother. "It was a reasonable action, I deserved it, I damaged one of Odin's manuscripts when I fell into his desk,"

It didn't matter, he supposed, that he wouldn't have fallen into Odin's desk and knocked his inkwell over, had Odin not backhanded him for…what was it again? Oh yes, accidentally tricking a few ambassadors from Vanaheim, that had been it.

"Loki," Frigga said softly, embracing him. "You are our son,"

"But I'm not, I am a monster" Loki replied, barely daring to speak the words to contradict her. He didn't want to lose her affection.

"You are my son Loki," she assured him. "You are as much my child as Thor is or Hela was, and you always will be. Odin's actions were cruel and disproportionate, and I am sorry that I was unable to protect you, that I did not look harder to see what was in front of me." She sighed. "Loki, you are not a monster, you are kind, intelligent and talented and I love you. The Jotuns are not monsters either, Odin has poisoned your head with lies-"

"Mother, please, it is not only Odin who claims that, all other Asgardians know that the Jotuns are vicious beasts!" Loki said. It wasn't that he wanted Frigga to hate him, not exactly, more that he couldn't bear the thought of all these years of suffering for no reason.

"Loki, we fought a war against them, and many from both sides died. You are intelligent, try to think about the reasons we view them as such. They killed people's family, shield brothers, of course they will be angry with them, will hate them. And others, who feared killing them, who regret it, need it to be justified, as killing a monster is more palatable than killing a man." Frigga sighed. "I can see that it will be difficult for you to change your mind, but answer me this: your children, Loki, do you really see them as monsters?"

"Of course," Loki replied without hesitating, then added: "but that does not matter, it does not mean that I do not love them,"

From Frigga's expression Loki could tell that that was not quite the answer that she had hoped for. "At least that is a start," she said. "Loki, I want you to think very carefully about yourself, about your children, and about the Frost Giants. I hope one day you will see that you are not monsters,

"Now, as much as I would like to stay, I must return soon. I need to convince Thor to help me and prepare to hand over the Casket to Laufey. Also, the longer I cloak myself the less Heimdall will trust me, and I feel that he already knows that I have taken the Throne from Thor, and fear what he will do in the name of Odin,"

Loki's heart fell at the thought of his mother leaving so soon, but he nodded in understanding. "Heimdall is not one to cross," he agreed. "He is loyal to Odin to a fault, and has never trusted me,"

"That makes both of us," Frigga said drily and Loki gave a weak smile.

"Now," Frigga said seriously. "We do not have long, tell me everything you know about the whereabouts of your children,"

 _ **I hope you enjoyed that!**_

 _ **Next up (finally back to Saturdays as I will not be away this weekend): the group go to the Malibu mansion and get sciencing!**_


	9. Project Bifrost

_**A/N, So, there was nothing to stop me posting on Saturday as promised…except for me completely forgetting! Apologies!**_

 _ **We begin the sort of filler chapters (because team bonding, yay!) before we get back to serious plot and issues in a few chapters time.**_

 _ **Thank you all for all the reviews, favourites and follows, you all make me love writing this!**_

 **Chapter Nine – Project Bifrost**

"Welcome, to my humble abode!" Tony said grandly, but with more than a hint of sarcasm, throwing his arms wide as the doors opened automatically.

Loki had a few seconds to marvel at the open space. In a way it reminded him of Asgard, big and minimalist, and clearly expensive, but without all the gold, when a disembodied voice echoed through the space.

"And might I say what a pleasure it is to have you back Sir, Dum-E has only let off two fire extinguishers in your absence,"

Loki looked wildly around for the source of the voice but could see none. Perhaps it was common practice for Midgardians to keep their staff completely out of sight, so as not to spoil the company. That was, of course, what the servants in the palace of Asgard aimed to do, however there it was not considered proper etiquette to speak when no one could see you.

"What the hell?" Darcy exclaimed. Loki turned and saw Jane drawing closer towards her friend, looking perturbed, and Erik's wary expression and flickering eyes. Perhaps it was not Midgardian custom then?

"Meet Jarvis, my AI, he basically runs the house. If you need anything, just ask, he's installed in every room," Tony said by way of explanation.

"You have an actual AI?" Jane said ecstatically. "Oh my god, that's-"

"Wait, is he watching us, like, all the time?" Darcy questioned. "Because I gotta admit that's pretty creepy dude,"

Loki's eyes widened in horror, and to think he'd only had to deal with Heimdall. Now there was another being, this 'AI', that was going to keep watch on him all the time? And in such a confined space with only four guests it would be impossible to do anything that would escape his notice! At least, with his magic bound, he was less likely to mess things up too badly, and he couldn't transform into a Frost Giant without his magic.

Then it hit him: why, if Odin had the power to bind his magic, hadn't he done it before? Of course, after the Sleipnir incident it had been agreed that it would be safer to learn how to use his magic, but before then Odin had made it very clear that his magic was a part of his Frost Giant heritage, and using it was disgraceful. He had later conceded that although he should not use it whenever possible, if he could use it to protect his _real_ son in battle, and to protect himself so that he wouldn't dishonour Odin's family, then perhaps it would be of some benefit.

 _Mother would have realised had my magic been stripped from me,_ he thought, frowning. Perhaps Odin had thought that she would have been unhappy with him, were he to have taken Loki's magic away. Her actions earlier on certainly supported that idea.

However, Loki sighed, vaguely listening to Tony as his arms gestured animatedly as he detailed what was upstairs, Frigga didn't know the full story. If she did, when she realised, he was certain that her bizarre protectiveness towards him would cease.

He had thought of this a lot, when helping to pack the last of the equipment, and during the plane journey to Tony's mansion. The murder of Frigga's Hela had effectively been his fault, had he not fathered the real Goddess of Death, Odin would never have seen that a Hela was going to cause Asgard's destruction in his vision and Frigga's Hela would still be alive. Loki resisted the urge to laugh bitterly. It was truly ironic.

Tony said something about dumping their bags by the piano, they could sort them later, and that it was time to get sciencing.

Loki, who was carrying two of Darcy's bags, went over to where the others were leaving their luggage and placed them carefully down next to what he assumed was a musical instrument.

Absentmindedly, he stopped and stared out of the window, immersed in his anxious and regretful thoughts. Distantly he noted that the sea was beautiful from here, and perhaps he should have paid more attention to Midgard's scenery rather than discussing science on the journey.

He watched the gentle bobbing of the waves as he thought about what else Frigga did not know. She had seemed distraught at the thought of Odin burning him, but truly she did not know how terrible he had been over the years, all the things that he had done wrong. If Odin did not appropriately counteract his inherent Frost Giant wickedness who knew what Loki would do? He had a feeling that if he explained all of his infractions then his mother would understand why Odin had had to treat him like she did. Which was why he could never let her know. For all her bizarre behaviour it was nice that Frigga seemed to care about him. This care was however, at the expense of her love for Odin, so perhaps it would be the right thing to do to let her know. But he didn't want to do the right thing, so he supposed that proved that Odin was right and Frigga wrong, that he truly was a monster. Strangely enough, Frigga seemed to possess no ill will towards the Frost Giants, but he hoped that her delusion would soon fade, for her sake more than his, as he dreaded what the Jotuns would do to her.

"Loki, are you coming?" Tony asked from right behind him and Loki gasped, spinning around to gaze at Tony's concerned expression with wide eyes. Tony took a step back, seemingly trying to work out what to say. "Are you okay?" Tony settled on.

Loki nodded quickly, determined to ignore his racing thoughts.

"Good," Tony said, flashing a quick grin. Probably convincing to others, but Loki could tell it was forced. "So, coming to let me pick your brain about the secrets of inter-realm travel?"

-m-

He looked around the space with interest, it was much less open than upstairs, more cluttered, like Jane's lab, and in a way that felt comforting.

"Okay J," Tony announced, clapping his hands together. "New project: Bifrost. Let's store this on my private servers to avoid any unwanted interference from SHIELD…and pull up all the data that the SHIELD satellites picked up and cross-reference it with the readings from Jane's machines,"

Almost at once bright blue illusions showing graphs and percentages and data readings that Loki couldn't yet understand, but was sure he would once one of the others explained to him what they represented, surrounded them.

Loki gasped in amazement and stared at Tony, who grinned at him proudly. Loki couldn't quite believe it, Tony was creating illusions without seeming to care if people would ridicule him for it. Though, he supposed that might be because Tony wasn't a warrior, he was a scholar, like Jane, Darcy and Erik, and they had seemed fascinated when he discussed magical theory, and by Frigga's illusion. Loki frowned, they had been interested because no one believed in magic on Midgard. What then, was Tony doing, how had he managed it…he had said earlier that he hadn't believed in magic either.

By the other's reactions though, Loki could tell that this couldn't be science.

"How do you even bend the light like that?" Erik asked, enthralled, poking at one of the graphs. It promptly flew across the room. "What…?"

"Okay, first things first," Tony explained. "My holograms are movable, as you can see…Jarvis put that graph back where it was will you? Anyway, I think we're gonna need to discuss how you use the holograms…"

It was bizarre, Loki thought as he drew his hands apart and a graph magnified into greater detail, that the illusions stayed intact even after someone had touched them, and Tony didn't even seem to be concentrating on all of them (he was now teaching Darcy how to scrunch up a graph and throw it into a floating target). For someone who said that he didn't believe in magic he was clearly a very gifted sorcerer, and he had accomplished this in only half of his meagre mortal lifespan. Loki scrunched up the graph that he had been looking at and threw it across the room at the target. A satisfying clanging noise rang through the room (supposedly from Jarvis's speakers) and Tony gave him a warm smile, which Loki returned, the tension he had been feeling lessening slightly.

Finally, when Tony had brought up an illusion of his latest 'starkphone' and had started to take it apart to show the different layers of its machinery, Loki could bear it no longer. "How do you do it, how do you do such advanced magic to create these illusions?"

Tony laughed, and Loki found himself shrinking in on himself a bit, despite the fact that Tony hadn't sounded cruel. "It's not magic, it's science,"

"But it can't be," Loki argued. "They are like the illusions that I can…could create, no technology could alter the very fabric of the universe in such a way,"

Tony smirked and then went off into a ramble about infrared sensors and light beams, to which Loki listened raptly, enthralled as Tony pulled up an illusion ("It's a _hologram_ ,") of the room and explained where he'd hidden all the technology that made it work.

Loki was somewhat disappointed that it hadn't turned out to be magic, but at the same time he was fascinated by Tony's science and marvelled at the fact that a Midgardian had created this through technology. This was far beyond the ideas of Asgard and Loki felt guiltily delighted in the fact that Midgard, a supposedly backwards realm filled with unintelligent beings with lives shorter than a good horse, had things like this.

"You said that you could create illusions, could you do it now?" Tony asked and Loki looked away in shame.

"I cannot, Odin has taken my magic from me,"

"Well, that's useful," Tony replied drily. "Can we get it back?"

Loki sighed, it was just his luck that the moment that someone who wasn't Frigga (or occasionally Thor) might actually like his magic, he wouldn't be able to do any. And the question cut deeper than he would like to admit. He felt, empty, lost, without his magic, like he was always exhausted and ill but there was nothing apparently wrong. He _needed_ it back, but there was no guarantee that it would ever be returned to him. "I don't know,"

"Oh," Tony said, then suddenly spun round. "Dum-E, put that fire extinguisher down now, or I swear I will give you to Hammer!" The strange metallic creature whined and hung its… head? Hand? Loki wasn't sure. "Well, did Jane look like she was on fire?" the creature whirred again. "No, no she didn't."

Loki laughed at the strangeness of the situation.

"I made him as one of my early attempts at AI," Tony clarified, trying to gently pry the fire extinguisher out of Dum-E's grip, and Loki's eyes widened in amazement. He still was not exactly sure what AI meant (was he creating souls in machines, or had he transferred them from another being? And how?) but Tony had _created_ this creature.

He supposed he should stop being astonished at the advancements that Midgard, or perhaps Tony Stark, had made. On the journey to Tony's mansion, he had discovered that Midgardians had only discovered the technology of flight just over a century ago, and yet they had managed to build a plane as big as the one that Tony had summoned (Loki was still baffled by the fact that the plane could fly itself), and without the magic that the flying ships of Asgard used. Loki had demanded to know how it worked and he was fairly certain that he could potentially build one himself after Tony's long speech that he had just about been able to follow.

After they had finished aeronautics, they discussed the Bifrost, and how it related to the theoretical Einstein-Rosen bridges. Loki barely even thought about looking out of the window to observe the Midgardian landscape over the course of the journey he was so wrapped up the conversation. Tony was an easy man to talk to, he was quick to smile, and he understood new concepts so rapidly that Loki was shocked that Tony hadn't been studying the Bifrost for years. He was, Loki thought, perhaps as intelligent as himself (not that Loki's quick mind was important, or even a good thing, despite what Frigga seemed to think. He always made the wrong decisions, his wicked Frost Giant ways counteracting any wisdom he might have had). Such a brain was wasted on one with so short a life. As Loki had explained how the Bridge powered the Bifrost and Tony listened intently to him, he had realised that he almost felt comfortable around Tony, and that he didn't want the moment to end.

Of course it had ended, the continual exhaustion that came with his lack of magic, not to mention his panic attack the day before and his serious lack of sleep, had caught up with him and he had dozed off when Tony had got up to grab a coffee from the coffee machine and the only sound he could hear was the humming of the engine and Tony muttering to himself (the others had dropped off much earlier in the flight).

He had woken in a panic, when Tony had shaken him awake to tell him that they'd arrived, unsure of what he had been dreaming about but knowing it included Frigga and his children. He couldn't deny that he was incredibly worried for them. Would Frigga actually be able to rescue them, and if she did, would that make everything worse? Loki knew that Odin would be unable to kill any of his children thanks to Hela's protection. Actually, he supposed that was both of the Helas' protection. Loki had asked his daughter once why Angrboda hadn't succeeded in killing Fenrir. Hela, barely older than a hundred at the time had smiled mysteriously and whispered conspiratorially in his ear 'it's a secret, but my namesake helped me do it', and then she'd skipped off happily, her chubby fingers plucking the flowers off the nearby plants. Loki had watched in fascination as Hela had started her customary ritual of making the flowers wither and then bloom again, but had been unable to get any information from her as to who this 'namesake' was.

Now it seemed obvious, it was Frigga's Hela. Loki had no idea as to why she would deign to help them though, not when he had been inadvertently responsible for her death.

Odin could still hurt them though, and so Loki hoped with all of his might that his children would be safe from him. Secretly, he hoped that Odin would die in the Odinsleep, so that he and his children would be safe, but he knew that this was a vile and wicked thought so he tried his best to ignore it.

Back in the present Tony had succeeded in wrestling the extinguisher from Dum-E's grip and had placed it very firmly on a workbench as far away from the mechanical creature as possible.

"So," Tony said. "Where were we? Right, project Bifrost…Jarvis, start recording. Loki, recap everything that you've told us about the Bifrost, tell us everything we have wrong about Einstein-Rosen bridges, and then explain all the stuff needed to build a Bifrost. Then, we can think about buying the materials and running some experiments."

Loki thought that Tony was perhaps being more than a bit too hasty and it must have shown on his face as Tony assured him:

"Sometimes you gotta run before you can walk,"

 _Well, that settles that then._ Loki thought. He just hoped that Tony and Jane's excitement would wane before they ended up destroying Midgard.

 _ **I hope you all enjoyed the chapter :D**_

 _ **Next up: They watch Harry Potter (because I needed to have the cliché fanfic movie night) and Loki has some worrying opinions about Harry's 'freakish' nature.**_

 _ **Frigga desperately tries to convince Thor to help her.**_

 _ **(and maybe something else depending on time)**_


	10. Magic and Morality

_**A/N: Finally, I am back to posting on Saturdays!**_

 _ **Thank you all for your continued support, whether through reviews, follows or favourites, I love you all and you make writing this wonderful! Thank you!**_

 _ **03/03/2018**_

 **Chapter Ten – Magic and Morality**

"No, no!" Jane said, gesturing frantically to one of the equations floating around them. "You're not taking into account the geodetic strain from the wormhole,"

"It's not a wormhole," Loki countered, then turned to Erik. "But Jane's right, your proposal would tear us into individual atoms." Loki thought that it was definitely an improvement that Erik didn't automatically snap at him, but glared aggressively at the hologram instead.

"Well…" Tony said, drawing a new equation in the air. Loki watched in interest as it became a part of the hologram. "What if we did this?"

"You've forgotten gravity," He said drily.

Tony scoffed. "No I haven't…okay…maybe I have…"

"Have you guys considered taking a break?" Darcy called from the other side of the room, surrounded by her political science notes. They had been in the lab for hours, so these notes and her plans for diplomatic relations between Earth and the other eight Realms had been long since forgotten in favour of streaming music into the latest Stark headphones and napping. Loki envied her, as much as this was interesting, and if he wanted everyone to continue to like him he couldn't afford to stop helping, the pervasive fatigue continued and he longed for sleep.

"That would be an excellent idea," Jarvis added. "Especially considering Mr Stark hasn't slept 38 hours,"

"Traitor!" Tony hissed at the ceiling. "We don't need sleep, there are important scientific discoveries to be made!"

"Ah, yes Sir, because I forgot doing dangerous experiments on no sleep always goes brilliantly for you, and that it's normal for a genius such as yourself to forget about the existence of gravity,"

"I'm feeling attacked, why is everyone ganging up on me?" Tony whined and Loki laughed. The man was completely ridiculous. It was endearing and Loki couldn't help feel more relaxed in his presence than he had done with anyone else for centuries because of it.

"I suppose a bit of rest wouldn't kill us," Jane sighed, looking longingly at the holograms. "We did get a lot done today, and I am kind of hungry,"

"Great, I'm going to bed," Erik said abruptly, and Loki couldn't help but think that it was because Erik couldn't wait to get away from him. "Jarvis could you direct me to my room?"

"Of course, Dr Selvig,"

"Night everyone," he called, looking at everyone except Loki, whose shoulders slumped. Things would be so much easier if Erik didn't hate him.

"This is not fair, I invite you all into my home and you all decide you need to rest!" Tony exclaimed dramatically and Loki gave him a look of clearly feigned sympathy. Tony responded with a mock glare that morphed into a grin.

"Come on," Darcy said, semi-dragging Tony and Jane from the room. "Even geniuses need to rest, we're having a movie night!"

"Fine, but only if we can watch something with loads of explosions, or robots," Tony conceded. "I'm thinking 'I, Robot', Jarvis always likes movies about AIs going bad, gives him a power trip of something,"

"You want that to be Loki's first movie?" Darcy tutted.

"It's a good movie!"

"I'm not denying that," Darcy said. "But come on, don't you think that Loki's first movie should be a bit more representative of earth culture?"

"There is nothing more representative of earth culture than explosions and fighting for our lives against impossible odds."

"Actually I was thinking it would be really cool to watch something with magic in, and for Loki to tell us how much of it is actually true!" Jane said, sitting down on the big curved sofa in the room above the lab.

"Now that would be cool!" Tony said. "And it would mean we wouldn't have to stop working (so take that Jarvis),"

"We should do 'Harry Potter'," Darcy suggested.

"That's a kid's movie!" Tony complained, flicking though holographic takeout menus.

"Yeah, but it's a fun movie, and easy to follow," Darcy countered.

"I'm down," Jane shrugged.

"Fine," Tony replied. "I've never seen it anyways, so,"

"Have you been living under a rock?" Darcy joked, and Tony's face froze. Loki would have missed it if he hadn't been looking directly at Tony at the time, as barely a second had passed and Tony had recovered. Loki wondered what exactly in Darcy's words had affected him so badly.

"Just never had a reason to watch it," he shrugged. "It's not like I spend any time with kids,"

"You good with 'Harry Potter', Loki?" Jane asked and Loki nodded, it wasn't like he had much of a choice. He would much rather had gone to bed, but these mortals wanted to include him, which was an unusual occurrence where he was concerned, and he was loathe to shun their offers of friendship.

-m-

Loki picked at his chicken fried rice as the movie began.

"Do wizards look like that?" Jane hissed, pointing at the man with the long grey beard

"Not normally," Loki replied, distracted by the fact that a cat had just turned into a woman and trying desperately not to think of his children. He dug his fingernails into his wrist, hoping the pain would dull the memories.

Things only went downhill from there.

Loki sat stiff and tense as the movie progressed. He felt a strong affinity with the child, and an urge to protect him. Harry was, clearly, a lot like himself, and not just because of the black hair, and the magic that he possessed.

He watched as Dudley shoved Harry and called him hateful names, as Petunia ordered him around and she and Vernon favoured their _real_ son and showered him with gifts. It was, of course, perfectly acceptable to treat a magic wielding freak who wasn't actually a part of your family like this (and Loki wondered if his life would have been more like this had his heritage been a less closely guarded secret, if Thor would have treated him like Dudley did Harry), but Loki still wanted to protect the boy from Vernon as he told him that if there was any 'funny business', he wouldn't have any meals for a week. Loki knew from experience that a week was a very long time to go without meals. A day or two was fine, he could cope and regularly went without meals for that long in his self imposed semi-exile from mealtimes, but more than that was hard to bear. Loki also knew from experience that there would indeed be 'funny business', it was just the way life worked, no matter how hard you tried the worst always happened, and his chest filled with dread.

Loki wondered why the Midgardians enjoyed watching this, was this going to be a moral tale, where freaks like Harry met their just and grisly end?

"Loki, are you alright?" Darcy said quietly from next to him.

 _Stop it, please stop!_ Loki wanted to scream as he watched the screen with an increasing horror. He really did not want to see what Midgardians thought should be done to the orphan monster. But instead he nodded, smiling at Darcy as warmly as he could manage.

Of course, it went wrong, how could it not. The others laughed as the snake escaped and Dudley got trapped in its enclosure, but Loki felt sick to his stomach.

When Uncle Vernon grabbed hold of Harry's hair Loki could picture himself that small again, Odin's hand in his hair, dragging him, and he felt the phantom pain in his scalp. He was glad he didn't see Vernon physically punishing Harry, that all they saw was him being shoved into his cupboard (which Loki assumed served as his bedroom) presumably to start his week without food, but he could imagine it all too well.

What was incredibly confusing though was what happened afterwards. He went into a world where people actually liked him, he was a hero who defeated a monster (an evil wizard named Voldemort) as a baby, he fought a troll, he had friends. He began to become increasingly confused as to the moral of the tale, was not the entire point of this to show how awful Harry was, for the people who had so self-sacrificingly taken him in to inflict justice upon him? Loki couldn't help thinking about Tony, Darcy, and Jane, who seemed to like and accept him, even though he wasn't sure why. He felt as confused as when his mother had told him that she loved him, despite his being a Frost Giant and her knowledge that he wasn't her biological son.

The worst part was when Harry defeated Quirrell and Lord Voldemort. Here, had had clearly triumphed against the monster, the villain. To the people in the wizarding world, Harry was a hero, he saved people, he was told his parents had been good people, yet he was a unwanted freak and he undoubtedly deserved everything that his relations did to him. Midgardians were confusing creatures, what did they mean by such a story?

"Did you like it?" Jane said after it had finished. "You seemed pretty engrossed in the story,"

Loki wasn't sure what to say. Of course, the polite thing would be to say he loved it, but if then they wished to discuss it, it would become apparent that he had lied, which would be so much worse.

"I didn't understand it," Loki said carefully.

Tony looked at him as if he were mad. "This is a children's story and you understand crazily advanced physics,"

Darcy sighed. "You could have told us to stop it, we would have explained stuff to you,"

Loki stared down at his practically untouched container of rice that he'd placed on the coffee table. That had been a fantastic thing to say, now they were all angry at him, and soon they would start to listen to Erik. "I didn't know that was an option," he said awkwardly.

"Oh well, you do now," Darcy sighed. "What didn't you get, we can explain it now if you want,"

Loki hesitated, on the one hand, asking could show them how much of a freak he was himself, on the other the movie had completely baffled him and he needed answers. If he wanted to at least try to fit in on Midgard, he had to understand their culture. "What was the moral of the story?" he asked.

"Uh, good triumphs over evil," Tony replied flippantly.

"But he wasn't _good_!" Loki exclaimed frantically, without thinking.

"What do you mean he wasn't good?" Jane asked, and Loki knew he had said absolutely the wrong thing, but he couldn't figure out _why_ it was the wrong thing. Oh well, he may as well continue.

"He does wicked tricks with his magic, look at what he did to his cousin with the snake,"

Tony scoffed. "His cousin was _not_ a good person,"

"Loki, look at what his cousin did to him, look at how his family treated him," Jane said, looking at him warily. "It's understandable that he would lose control of his powers every once in a while,"

Loki could feel the panic that had grown steadily throughout the film rise, threatening to overwhelm him. It was like nothing made sense anymore. Frigga insisted that Odin was at fault, and now the others were mirroring her, claiming that Harry's family had treated him badly. But that couldn't be, Odin was wise, he was… oh why was everyone acting so strangely?

"But, they said it in the film," Loki said desperately. "He's a freak, they didn't want him, he was a burden to them. He used his magic and he played tricks on people, and he hurt them. They had to treat him like that, who knows what he would have done if they hadn't!"

The room was completely silent, and Loki found himself unconsciously shrinking backwards into the cushions of the sofa, not daring to take his eyes off the three gazes of horror and bewilderment that stared back at him.

"I don't even understand how you can get that so wrong?" Darcy spoke up. "He's not a freak, he can do magic, but that doesn't make him a freak. The Dursleys just say he is because they're jealous and scared of his magic,"

"Why shouldn't they be scared of his magic?" Loki asked quietly. "After everything he did with it,"

"He did magic accidentally because he was scared. I don't know why you thought he played tricks on them," Darcy continued, and Loki grimaced internally, he supposed he had projected a bit too much onto the child. "If the Dursleys had treated him well they shouldn't have had to fear him,"

"And just because they didn't want him there was no reason to treat him like that. They could have tried to love him, or at least pretended to, or found someone else to care for him," Tony said seriously, and Loki had the feeling that there was something that Tony wanted to say, but wasn't, or that he was speaking from experience.

"He was just a child, and they had no right to treat him like that," Jane added.

"They had _every_ right," Loki almost pleaded.

"Would you treat a child like that?" Jane asked him gravely and Loki wished he could shrink further back into the sofa.

"No!" he protested immediately, thinking about how much he had wanted to protect Harry from the Dursleys.

"Then why do you think that it's okay? Is it fine to treat your kid like that on Asgard?" Darcy demanded.

Loki bit his lip. "If they're not your 'kid',"

"What's your family like, Loki?" Tony said suddenly, and Loki flinched at what Jarvis had assured him earlier was Tony's lack of brain to mouth filter. Loki wondered briefly if he did have a filter, and if he just wanted to get the uncomfortable questions out of the way quickly.

Loki wanted to answer, but he wasn't sure how to. What were you meant to say to that? _Well, my family are bloodthirsty monsters, but my pretend family are magnificent, and I ruin their happiness with my presence. Odin is wise and decisive, a just king. Frigga is kind and strong, and is unfortunately slightly delusional at the moment. Thor is brave and the ideal warrior of Asgard, everyone loves and admires him, he is everyone's favourite. What am I compared to them except a wicked beast?_ His breathing sped up and the world seemed to lose its sense of reality around him.

"Loki?" Tony said, and Loki noted that he sounded worried. He needed to say something, _anything_.

"They're fine, they're _normal_ ," Loki replied quickly, struggling to get the words out.

"And you're not," Tony said, Loki was unsure whether or not he had meant it as a question.

"Tony, his mom can do magic, and she's the Queen of Asgard, there's nothing wrong with doing magic on Asgard," Jane pointed out.

"Well, clearly there is, if he's reacting like this," Tony shot back, and Loki just needed them to stop, to stop arguing, just for everything to _stop._ He noted that Tony had changed places and was now sitting on the other side of him, placing a hand on his shoulder, it helped to ground him a bit. "Loki, you need to listen to me. There is nothing wrong with Harry, he doesn't deserve to be tormented just because of who he is. He was born being able to do magic, he can't help it. And there is absolutely no excuse to treat a child in your care like that. Adults should keep children _safe_ , not hurt them,"

"Then why did he do it?" Loki cried, collapsing into Tony's chest, half sobbing, half hyperventilating, utterly confused and with no clue what was going on anymore.

-m-

Tony held Loki awkwardly until he had passed out from exhaustion.

One thing was for certain here, something bad had happened to Loki, and he sincerely doubted that the 'he' that Loki had referred to was Uncle Vernon.

Was it too early to plot revenge against whoever had messed Loki up so badly?

Probably not.

-M-

"Mother, why did you request that we meet here?" Thor demanded after landing next to Frigga at the edge of a large, goat-filled field.

He hooked Mjolnir to his belt and looked at his mother expectantly. When a servant had informed him that Frigga wished to meet him in a field on the outskirts of the city, Thor had been more than slightly confused. With Asgard in a state of turmoil, unsure whether they should be listening to the currently-asleep King and preparing for war, or heeding the words of the Queen Regent and carrying on as normal, he was surprised that she had summoned him so far from the palace. They both lived there after all, and it would have saved a lot of hassle.

His mother looked at him seriously. "I had thought that you might like to see the good that you've done after all the destruction you caused on Jotunheim."

 _Good I've done?_ Thor thought, wondering what point his mother was trying to make, but he didn't get much time to ponder on this before she continued.

"Do you remember the goats you used to keep as a child? These are their descendants,"

Thor gazed across the field at the goats, peacefully chomping away at the lush grass. If that were the case then these would be the great, great, great…okay, he didn't have time to work it out…grandchildren of Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjostr. But that didn't explain the point that his mother was trying to make.

His mother's words baffled him for many reasons, but mostly because Frigga was trying to portray his years tending to goats as a good thing.

"The good that I have done? Mother, I do not understand, the years that I spent tending to goats were wasteful."

"Did your father tell you that?" Frigga replied wearily, and Thor frowned at her tone. Despite what Loki might claim, that he was oblivious, he could be somewhat observant when he tried, and he worried at his mother's tone.

"Yes," Thor replied, it was better to clarify things after all. "Father said that I should be training to be a proper Prince of the Realm, rather than playing at being a goat herder,"

Frigga looked like she was thinking carefully. "I remember that, you seemed fairly stoic about the decision at the time," at these words Thor decided he was definitely _not_ thinking about the months he had spent shedding unwarrior-like tears for the loss of his goats in the privacy of his chambers, because that memory was shameful, "I am sorry that I did not fight harder to change his mind,"

Thor brushed her words aside in his characteristic carefree manner. "It is of little consequence. Father was right. My time was much better spent in training," he replied, trying to convince himself that what he said was true. Frigga's questions were weakening his resolve, but he needed to remember that Odin was wise in all…okay, _most_ things. For someone who preached the bloodthirsty nature of Frost Giants he had seemed awfully wary to go to war with them, and he did seem to have a worrying tendency to blame Loki for things that couldn't possibly be his fault (this was something he knew he needed to raise with his mother when he got the chance). But here Thor could see the wisdom in Odin's decision; the realm needed a Prince that was a warrior.

"Was it better spent training though?" Frigga asked, watching a kid ambling about after its mother. "I cannot help but feel that you have lost your compassion for others, that all you seek is battle." Suddenly, the sound of Laufey's voice floated unwanted through his mind, 'you long for battle, you crave it', and Thor couldn't help shifting uncomfortably. "Odin is not infallible, he makes mistakes, just as you or I do,"

Now, Thor supposed, was as good a time as any to bring up the issue of Odin's interaction with Loki.

"Father said some things on the Bridge about Loki which concerned me. He accused him of many things that I do not believe to be true," Thor said and his mother looked at him gravely.

"I have recently become aware of your father's unfortunate treatment of Loki," she replied, and Thor couldn't quite tell whether she looked ill or angry. "What did he tell you?"

"He said that Loki had caused the conflict, when it was I that convinced us all to journey there, and it was I who struck the first blow… Loki wanted to leave, to negotiate. He told me that Loki had manipulated me into taking us to Jotunheim, but I fail to understand how he could have done, all he did was beg me _not_ to travel there. Father tried to get me to leave, but he appeared to have lost his senses, so I refused…but still I was not able to stop him from banishing Loki," Thor finished quietly, surprised that he had voiced the last part. It shamed him that he had watched, frozen, as Odin had ripped Loki's magic, which was a _part_ of him as much as Mjolnir was for Thor…maybe even more so, from him and then banished him to a land of ignorant beings. Warriors who couldn't act under pressure did not deserve to be called warriors, and he found himself wondering if he should even be worthy of Mjolnir if he couldn't even protect his little brother.

As ever, it seemed that his mother had no trouble reading his thoughts. "Thor, you need not be ashamed that you failed to stop Odin from banishing your brother. You are no match for the Odinforce and you know this." She smiled warmly at him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I am proud of you for staying and trying to reason with him, I dread to think what he would have done to Loki were you not there,"

And Thor did too, which terrified him. The idea that his father had aspects to him that he had not seen in over 1000 years was not something to be taken lightly.

"It seems that your father has been using Loki as a scapegoat for all of his problems for years without us noticing," Frigga said grimly, and Thor tried once again to imagine all the things that he hadn't seen, due to his 'obliviousness'. This was a one off, it had to be, after all, Odin did have evidence that Loki was behind the attempted theft of the Casket. This evidence had to be coincidental though, Loki would never betray Asgard or Odin. The scene had to be overreaction in the heat of the moment, didn't it?

"Father said that Loki let the Jotuns into the Weapons Vault," he stated and watched his mother's expression become guarded. He frowned.

"It seems he did," she said slowly, and Thor scoffed.

"But why would he do that?" he demanded, hand shooting to Mjolnir as it often did when he was angry, feeling the buss of electricity through his veins.

"Thor, he never intended for them to steal it, merely to prove that you were not ready to be king,"

 _Not ready?_ Thor's blood boiled at his brother's interference, how _dare_ he try to prevent him from becoming king. His father was right, Loki was just jealous, and malicious, and he deserved his banishment.

"Thor, the first thing you did after they invaded was putting your friends in mortal danger and slaughtering countless innocent Jotuns,"

Thor supposed she did have a point. Fandral and Volstagg had been seriously wounded, and it could have been worse. He definitely should have thought things through and planned a better attack (which he could have done if he had been able to control Asgard's armies). But was not the whole point of life to have ballads sung of your adventures, your final victory and death, and to go to Valhalla? And the Jotuns _innocent_?

"They were hardly innocents, Mother, Frost Giants are savage monsters, they attacked our home, if they had stolen even one of those relics..."

"Thor, there were five of them. Five people do not represent an entire race!"

"Father did say that this was the act of a few," Thor admitted.

"Well, for once he shows insight in this situation!" Frigga replied bitterly. Thor stared at her in confusion. How were the Frost Giants _not_ monsters, that's all anyone ever said they were, and why did Frigga not agree with Odin?

"Thor," Frigga sighed. "I feel as if you need a history lesson, one that doesn't leave out the things that your father so helpfully omits. Let us fetch the books that I brought here from Vanaheim, those will not have been changed by his politics, and I will show you all the good that Frost Giants have done in the universe. You will see that you cannot judge an entire race for the choices made by their elite, which, I should mention were made in desperation, not hunger for power, and that you cannot blame them either for defending their realm when you attacked it."

Thor suppressed a groan, he had thought he had left dull history lessons behind long ago. He sincerely doubted that his mother could show him anything that would make him change his mind, and surely this was just wasting time with the impending war looming. Still, he knew he couldn't change his mother's mind when she had her heart set on something, that it would be pointless arguing. He mounted the spare horse she had brought for him, and they both galloped back to the castle together, the sky darkening further as Thor slipped into gloom.

 ** _So, I hope you all enjoyed that!_**

 ** _Next: Tony, Jane and Darcy discuss Loki and research myths._**

 ** _And (probably) Angrboda, part 1_**


	11. Myth and Manipulation

**_A/N:_** ** _I picture Loki at the equivalent of around 16/17 in this, because again, I am evil, and not too much time has passed since the birth of Sleipnir._**

 ** _IMPORTANT: This chapter contains non-explicit (and mostly offscreen) rape._**  
 ** _Although Loki does arguably consent, consent under pressure like this is not really consent. However, please be aware that although it is very obvious what Angrboda is doing to him, and what is happening, the actual sex I skipped as I wasn't comfortable writing it, and so those of you who are also uncomfortable with that side it is probably safe to read._**

 ** _The story of the builder that Erik quotes is obviously different in the myths to what happened to Loki, so don't be confused by the discrepancies!_**

 ** _Thank you all so, so much for all the reviews, follows and favourites, you all make me so happy :)_**

 ** _11/03/2018_**

 **Chapter Eleven - Myth and Manipulation**

 _Loki stood silently by Odin's side as they waited outside the wooden door of the cabin. He forced himself to appear calm as he listened to the chattering of the birds around him and the wind whispering through the branches of the trees. Today he would meet the woman who would teach him magic._

 _Loki wasn't sure how he felt about this. On the one hand his magic was shameful, a part of his Frost Giant heritage, and he had used it for his wicked tricks when he was younger. On the other he could still feel the sensation of being completely paralysed by Bjarke, of being unable to stop Svadilfari as he… no, he wouldn't think about that, he_ couldn't _let himself think about that. He needed to learn magic._

 _He was happy that Odin had changed his mind in regards to that._

 _A few weeks ago Odin had found Loki in the stables. Loki had been brushing down his mother's horse, using this task as a guise for speaking to Sleipnir. Loki liked telling his son stories, he spoke of dragons and dwarves and elves, but also of Frigga, and Thor's adventures with his friends. Sleipnir's favourite tales were the ones that Loki had completely fabricated; in one Mjolnir was cursed and stolen, and Thor had to dress up as a bride to get it back, another involved a trickster who gambled his head to dwarves, and then managed to convince them that they only had rights to his head so they couldn't kill him, so he got his mouth sewn shut instead. Of course, the trickster had magicked the wire so that it didn't hurt a bit and dissolved in a few hours._

 _Despite Loki's hesitance around the topic of magic, Sleipnir loved it, and Loki loved to indulge him. He had often thought that perhaps it would be right to treat Sleipnir as Odin treated Loki, as a useless monster who should never had been born. But doing so didn't feel right, so Loki didn't._

 _The only stories Sleipnir didn't like were ones of Odin, his mournful neighs and frantic hoofbeats conveying his distress. And Loki didn't tell him stories of all the horrific things that Frost Giants did, Sleipnir didn't need to fear himself._

 _It had taken a while, but Loki and Sleipnir had worked out a system of communication. Sleipnir was able to understand Loki's words as he grew and his mind developed, but he had no way of talking. Loki had learnt that the different tones of Sleipnir's whinnies and snorts meant different things, and they had started to work on a system of taps which represented different runes. Before he had left to learn magic, Loki had been toying with the idea of teaching Sleipnir to read runes, that way Loki would be able to leave books in the stables so Sleipnir would have stories even when Loki wasn't there. Loki had been, however, unsure if his son's hooves possessed the fine motor control necessary to turn pages._

 _Loki had been recounting the tale of the theft of Mjolnir while he brushed Frigga's horse. "'But why has my bride eaten an entire ox?' Thrymr exclaimed. 'I would never have thought that one so dainty and small could-'"_

 _"Loki," Odin's voice had cut through the stillness of the royal stables and the brush had slipped through Loki's fingers._ There is nothing wrong with you being here _, Loki had firmly reminded himself._ Your horse is stored here too, and it is perfectly acceptable to want to care for Frigga's horse. _"I need to speak to you,"_

 _"Yes Allfather," Loki had replied, stepping out of the stall that he'd been standing in and taking care not to let his voice shake._

 _"I have found someone who is willing to teach you magic,"_

 _Loki hadn't been sure if those words had filled him with elation or absolute terror. He still wasn't sure._

 _"Well, do you have nothing to say?" Odin had demanded._

 _"Thank you." Loki had said quickly, then had taken a deep breath and added: "Do they know what I am?"_

 _"They do," Odin had replied shortly, and Loki had exhaled; asking questions was generally forbidden, but this time it didn't seem as if Odin was going to seek retribution for it._

 _Loki hadn't been sure how he felt about this information. On the one hand, if he shapeshifted into a Jotun it wouldn't be a shock to his teacher, on the other he dreaded how the sorcerer would treat him with the knowledge of what a monster he was. At least, with Odin he mostly knew what to expect. Better the Bilgesnipe you know and all that._

 _Loki had decided to push his luck, he had needed to know if he would be kept from Sleipnir, and if so how long for._

 _"Where does this sorcerer live, and for how long will I be studying under them,"_

 _Loki had seen Odin's jaw tighten. "She lives in Alfheim, and you will be staying with her permenantly until you have learnt to control your powers satisfactorily,"_

 _Loki had felt his heart plummet. He was awful at magic, it would take him ages to learn how to do it properly, and all that time parted from Sleipnir! It was unbearable! He had known that he had to be careful though, he had to control his emotions, he had to plan, it wouldn't do for him to forget himself and risk losing Sleipnir forever. Sleipnir, however, had shared none of those concerns. Almost immediately after Odin's pronouncement he had neighed in protest and hurled himself at the gate of his stall, stamping his hooves frantically._

 _"No!" Loki had pleaded as Odin had stormed over to the foal, picking up a riding crop from the wall before opening the stall door. "No, please don't hurt him!"_

 _Odin had scoffed. "I have talked with the horse about the type of behaviour expected from a royal steed before," Loki had seen Sleipnir backed into a corner, staring fearfully at Odin and letting out a low whining sound. "Besides, its just a horse, it doesn't mean anything to you, does it?"_

 _"No, nothing," Loki had assured him fearfully, hoping that denying his care for his son would go some way in protecting him._ I don't mean it! _He tried to convey to Sleipnir with his expression,_ I just don't want him to harm you. _But Sleipnir had collapsed in the straw, looking mournful, and was no longer looking at Loki._

 _"Then, I suppose I could go easy on him," Odin had acquiesced, turning and kicking the horse. Sleipnir had sounded pained, but Loki had known from experience that the kick was gentle for Odin, so he hadn't complained as Odin had shut the stall door and had grabbed him roughly, forcing him out of the stables._

 _Loki had risked a visit to the stables the day before they had been due to leave. Sleipnir had seemed to have forgiven him, which was good, but Loki couldn't bear the thought of not being able to protect his son. The thought of time away from him, having no idea as to his welfare, terrified him. To make up for it Loki had been sure to tell as many stories as possible, and had even risked opening Sleipnir's stall door and snuggling up with him in the straw in the night. Odin would probably know what Loki had done when Heimdall got a chance to tell him, but Loki would be gone by then, and Loki liked to think that as Sleipnir was Odin's prized foal, that he wouldn't take his anger out on his son for the infraction._

 _Loki's mind flicked back to the present as the door opened. Inside stood a woman smiling warmly at them. She was taller than both he and Odin, her long blonde hair flowed in an elaborate braid past her waist and her purple dress seemed to shimmer in the dappled sunlight of the forest. Loki supposed that she could be considered to be pretty._

 _"Odin Allfather," she said politely, giving a low curtsey. "And I see you've brought Loki with you, a pleasure to meet you my Prince," she said, curtseying again. Loki frowned in confusion, there was no need for her to be polite, they all knew what he was. But she was looking expectantly at him, so he coughed and said hastily: "the pleasure's all mine,"_

 _"Oh, you're quite the charmer aren't you?"_

 _"Angrboda," Odin said warningly, then turned to Loki. "If you give her any trouble at all, I will know about it,"_

 _Loki nodded, and without further ceremony Odin strode off to the clearing where the Bifrost had landed them._

 _"So, Loki," Angrboda said, placing an arm around his shoulders (which made Loki flinch), and guiding him into the house. "I'll just show you to your room and then we can find out how much a boy like you knows about magic,"_

-M-

 _Loki decided that liked Angrboda._

 _With her tutelage he was progressing faster than he had ever thought he would, and he felt that within a few years he might be good enough to return to the palace, good enough to see Sleipnir again._

 _He hissed as Angrboda pinched his arm and opened his eyes to see a perfect illusion of Sleipnir in front of him. "You're not concentrating," she snapped at him and Loki bit his lip and waved the illusion away. She was right, he was meant to be producing an accurate likeness of himself. He needed to stop thinking about Sleipnir as it always interfered with his concentration._

 _"Try again," Angrboda ordered and he hurried to obey. He always wanted to please Angrboda for treating him as well as she did. Despite frequent pinches and the occasional backhand when he had really disappointed her, he knew that she treated him well, that these were the least that he deserved. Odin would never have been so forgiving._

 _That evening, several months after Odin had left him in the cabin with Angrboda, she hugged him for doing such a good job on his illusion. He had managed to keep an image of himself in place for almost eight minutes. As she led him into the kitchen, an arm around his waist, she told him that tomorrow maybe they could start making his illusions move._

 _And that was what Loki really liked about Angrboda, how much she touched him. It was mostly just casual touches, a hand on his back, an encouraging squeeze on the arm, a soft hand running through his hair as they lay in front of the fire in the evenings. He felt happy around her, and he slowly got used to the idea that most of the time, if he behaved well, touches didn't have to hurt. Loki decided that he didn't really like how her hand sometimes strayed down lower than his back, and the way that she looked him up and down, almost predator-like, but these were small prices to pay for the constant stream of affection he received from her. Although he still longed to see Sleipnir again he realised that that would mean losing Angrboda, and being around Odin again, and he felt conflicted._

 _Loki complimented Angrboda's cooking (all done by spells of course), and she leaned over and stroked his cheek. "You're such a charming boy," she said sweetly, and Loki melted with happiness._

-M-

 _The problem came a few weeks later. Loki stood in the centre of the room, preparing to teleport in the way that Angrboda had instructed him to. He was clad only in a thin pair of trousers, (as Angrboda said that clothes made teleportation more difficult when learning, but Loki was adamant that he must remain slightly decent) trying to think about the correct spells and magical theory, and doing his best to ignore the way that Angrboda seemed to be eyeing him hungrily._

 _He gathered his magic and felt the strands of Yggdrasil calling him. Taking a deep breath he pushed himself forward, keeping in the forefront of his mind his required destination. A second later he slammed into the floor. But… it was not the floor of the living room, but the floor of the kitchen._

 _Loki let out a cry of exhilaration as Angrboda appeared beside him. "I did it! I actually did it by myself!" he said breathlessly, scrambling to his feet._

 _"You did," Angrboda said, and he melted into her embrace. "I am so proud of you,"_

 _"Wait, what are…" Loki asked in surprise, but Angrboda shushed him. He could feel her hand slipping inside the waistband of his trousers and coming to rest on his ass. Loki did like her touches, but this, this was too far. "Stop it!" Loki demanded, pushing her away._

 _Angrboda's eyes narrowed dangerously, but her voice was still soft and innocent, hurt. "Oh, but Loki sweetheart I thought you liked it when I touched you,"_

 _"I do, but, just, not like that, please not like that," he said, biting his lip and trying to forget Svadilfari._

 _She tutted patronisingly. "Come now Loki, you're old enough to know how this works. I've taught you tirelessly for months now, and look how far you've come. But you must have known I wanted something in return,"_

 _"I am not of age!" Loki protested. "You know I'm not!"_

 _"Since when do Asgard's laws mean anything here? Besides, you'll be old enough to be wed in a hundred years or so, and I know you've done this before, stop acting so innocent." Angrboda replied and Loki felt sick. "You must know what you do to me Loki, how I feel about you. Oh you're just so young, so pretty, so gorgeous when you look all wide eyed and unsure like that,"_

 _"Odin will not be okay with this, whatever you're getting in return for teaching me it isn't this," Loki said, stepping backwards, his breathing speeding up. "Heimdall can see you, you know,"_

 _Angrboda scoffed. "We both know that Odin cares nothing for you, and Heimdall hates all the Frost Giants after what they did to his family in the war. They won't protect you,"_

 _Although he knew her words to be true, Loki couldn't stop his heart sinking at them._

 _Angrboda stepped towards him, bringing her arms up to embrace him. "Now Loki, you're really disappointing me, and I know how you don't like to be a disappointment. And really, I thought you liked me, but you're not showing it, and honestly Loki, that hurts me,"_

 _Loki fled._

 _He slammed his door shut behind him and locked it with a flick of his hand, diving under the bed and laying there as still as he could possibly be, listening to his rapid breathing and the hammering of his heart. He knew he wasn't safe here, that Angrboda knew the counterspell to the door, and that she could teleport in here at any point she wished. Thankfully though, Angrboda didn't follow him._

 _When, the next morning, he crept down the stairs for his morning lessons (Heimdall was watching him and reporting back to Odin, so he didn't dare stop his lessons, both for Sleipnir's sake and his own), Angrboda acted like nothing had happened. She tutored him in the same tone as before, had the same smile, and let him eat the same amount of food (it was a good amount, Loki was almost used to not feeling hungry). But she didn't touch him, not at all, not even to slap him when he was so tense he exploded a glass jar when trying to levitate it._

 _The days passed and Loki grew more and more desperate. He had become dependent on Angrboda's gentle touches, and he ached for more._

 _Roughly a week later he stood in the doorway of the living room as Angrboda sat next to the fire, reading a book. He knew that before the incident he would have been lying next to her, reading a magic book and utterly content as she ran her fingers through his hair. He remembered what she had said, it really wasn't fair on her that he demanded all her time and gave her nothing in return._

 _"Angrboda," he said, his voice shaking. She looked up from her book, staring at him in interest. "I am sorry for my actions last week. I know I overreacted, and I was not thinking about your needs. I was selfish and I apologise for that,"_

 _He watched as a warm smile spread across Angrboda's face. "Oh, you're such a good boy Loki, I'm glad you decided to change your mind. So, come here," she said, beckoning to him._

 _Loki walked over to her, feeling as if he were in some sort of dream. Loki let her lay him down on the rug next to the fire, trying desperately to suppress the dread he felt when she began to gently unlace his shirt. He stared into the flickering flames of red and gold, distracting himself with the occasional colour of blue and green in the flames and the sparks coming off the wood._ You're doing the right thing, he told himself firmly, you need to think about Angrboda too.

-M-

 _It wasn't too difficult, he repeated to himself over the next few days. She had what she wanted, and he had what he wanted – she had started touching him again. He revelled as she hugged him, ran a hand through his hair, affectionately stroked his shoulders._

-M-

 _"You know this works both ways," Angrboda said in annoyance and Loki's breath hitched as she raked another long nail down his chest, adding to the collection of scratches that marred his body. "You could try to touch me instead of just lying there,"_

 _Loki nodded, blinking tears out of his eyes and trying to think about anything but this, anything but her weight on top of him, crushing him. Cautiously, he brought his hands up to brush them along her bare skin._

 _"See, it's not so difficult, that's much better!" Angrboda said and Loki smiled at the praise before she ran a hand through his hair and kissed him deeply._

 _He hated being trapped, and he thought that she knew that too, but that she liked him like this, terrified and unwilling, his body reacting despite this. But no, he was willing, he reminded himself, this was a small price to pay._

-M-

 _A few days later he came downstairs to begin his lessons, rubbing his neck where Angrboda had bitten him the night before, to find the house completely deserted. The books from the shelves were gone, there was no food left in the pantry, and on investigation upstairs there were no clothes in her wardrobe._

 _It turned out that Angrboda had left a note in front of the fire. Loki tried hard to remember the times that they had sat there reading, instead of the times that he had lain there and she had bade him do… other things. The note was brief, saying that there had been a family emergency and she had been called away, but his magic was satisfactory and he should return to Asgard for the time being, she would teach him again when she had sorted out her problem._

 _As he collapsed onto the rug, sobbing, Loki wasn't sure whether he felt terrified or relieved._

-M-

"What exactly do we know about Loki?" Tony asked. He felt guilty about invading his friend's privacy (was it too early to consider Loki a friend? He hoped he was, but then again he guessed he hadn't really had enough friends to be an accurate judge of that one), but if they were going to help Loki, he felt like it needed to be done.

He had carefully left Loki on the couch upstairs (asking Jarvis to keep an eye on him) and Tony, Darcy and Jane found themselves, once again, in Tony's workshop.

"Not much," Jane admitted. "Came through the Bifrost and smashed into our car. He seemed pretty out of it, but otherwise he was fine, no concussion or broken bones or anything. The doctor said that he was malnourished and suffering from exhaustion, but he found nothing wrong with him apart from that…we don't actually know why he was in that state, or why he came through the Bifrost in the first place,"

"Don't you think you should have asked him about that?" Tony said.

"Well, he didn't really want to talk about it, and he kept falling asleep when we asked him questions," Darcy shrugged. "And then we found out he was an alien when his mom appeared as an illusion and Jane wanted to pester him about science."

"On the subject of his mom, what is his family like, apart from 'fine' and 'normal'?" Tony asked, air-quoting Loki's earlier words.

"We know that his mom's the Queen of Asgard, she can do magic as she turned up as an illusion in our kitchen to talk to Loki. She's currently committing treason by ruling Asgard while his dad's in some kind of coma. Loki committed treason to stop his brother being crowned, I think his brother killed a load of people or wasn't ready for it or something. And Frigga, that's his mom, is kind of pissed of with his dad, apparently, he's done a lot of things wrong,"

"So, maybe we should be worried about his dad," Tony frowned.

"Yeah, maybe…" Jane said, not sounding convinced.

"Was that the first time he freaked out like that?"

"No, he was talking to Erik yesterday," she checked her watch, "the day before yesterday, and we came in and he was on the ground and hyperventilating. He didn't pass out then though,"

"Erik never did give me a good answer about what they were talking about," Darcy commented.

"So, maybe we ask him again?" Tony said, hoping that Erik could shed more light on the issue. If there was anything that he didn't want, it was Loki reacting like that again; he needed to do everything he could to stop it.

"If I may," Jarvis interrupted. "You might find looking in Norse Mythology helpful. My servers suggest that the earliest references to the words 'Bifrost', 'Asgard', 'Loki', and 'Frigga' can all be found in the Eddas, which detail the Norse Myths,"

"Erik had a Norse Mythology book yesterday," Darcy pointed out.

"I'll go get him," Jane said and rushed out of the room.

"Jarvis, how's Loki doing?" Tony asked to fill the silence.

"He still seems to be sleeping peacefully, Sir," Jarvis replied and Tony nodded, smiling.

"Let's hope he stays that way,"

-m-

A few minutes later Jane and Erik arrived, the latter was bleary eyed, clutching a book under his arm.

"So," Erik said. "Jane told me that you agree that Loki is from the myths,"

"Yeah," Darcy said as Tony argued:

"We don't think that, we just think that there's some interesting parallels in the names... or rather Jarvis does, and we agree,"

Erik sighed and sat down on the couch in the corner of the room. "I've been trying to tell you Jane, Loki is dangerous. In the myths, he was the bad guy, an untrustworthy trickster who caused the other gods a lot of problems,"

Tony thought back to Loki's reactions to Harry Potter, how he'd claimed that Harry had deserved his family's hatred because he played tricks on people with his magic. Well, Loki being a trickster god seemed to line up, but he seemed more traumatised than evil. Tony wondered at the truth behind the myths and why Loki's perspective had seemed so skewed.

"He doesn't seem that bad to me," Tony said flippantly, absentmindedly turning a screwdriver over in his hands. "What exactly did the myths say he did?"

And so Erik began telling them the myths of Loki.

-m-

"Wait five seconds," Tony interrupted. They were halfway through the tale of the builder. "You're telling me that Loki thought up a pretty solid plan to get the gods out of a tight spot, they all thought it was a fantastic idea and agreed to it, and now there are some unforeseen circumstances they're saying they'll kill him if he doesn't sort it out! Why is it his fault?"

"Because he came up with the plan to trick the gods," Erik replied calmly.

"No, it really sounds like he was trying to help them," Darcy countered.

-m-

Some time later Jane voiced another concern. "So, you're telling me that it is totally okay for Thor to smash the builder's head in just because he was a giant, and he didn't finish the wall,"

"Yeah, it was never in their agreement that he'd die if he didn't finish it!" Darcy exclaimed.

"In Norse myths the giants are the badguys," Erik explained. "It's just how it works,"

"Yes, but why?" Tony demanded and Erik sighed, almost as if they well all being deliberately difficult.

"Because when the first Aesir god, Buri, was born from the ice, he saw the Frost Giant, Ymir, and he knew that he was evil,"

"That's so messed up,"

"He was literally just born, you can't judge someone like that!" Jane complained.

"It's just a story," Erik said. "And the Aesir are wise,"

"He was literally just born," Darcy repeated drily. "How wise could he be, and it's hardly 'just a story', Loki is _sleeping upstair_ s!"

"So, ignoring racism and back to Loki," Tony said. "How did he stop the builder?"

"He turned himself into a mare and distracted Svadilfari, the horse that was helping the builder. Svadilfari was overcome with lust and as a result Loki birthed Sleipnir, an eight-legged horse that Odin rides into battle,"

"I really hope that's not true," Tony breathed, glancing over at Jane who looked sick.

"I doubt it is," Darcy said. "Stories will have changed over time, and besides, this myth was from ages ago, and how old is Loki?

"He told me he was just over a thousand,"

-m-

A few hours later and the three of them were still raging.

..."Odin took his children away!?"

..."They tied him to a rock with his son's entrails and dripped poison in his eyes!"

..."Well, to be honest I would have caused Ragnarok had Odin done that to my kids,"

"You don't have kids,"

"Hypothetical ones!"

..."So, Thor just killed another guy because he was a giant?"

-m-

By the end of all the tales Erik was starting to look slightly uncomfortable. "Okay, so maybe I might have misjudged Loki," he admitted.

"There's no might about it," Tony snapped at him, his protective streak towards the God had grown exponentially during the tales of his mythological exploits.

Erik had the grace to look abashed.

"We still don't know how much of this is true," Darcy pointed out. "And I mean, I'm not gonna be the one to ask him 'hey, does your daughter rule Helheim by any chance?'"

"I think she does," Erik said and Tony stared at him in shock. "He panicked after I asked about his kids,"

"Wow," Tony said, letting the screwdriver in his hand come to a rest. "That's… crazy,"

"So, the question is, how do we help him? Do we talk to him about this and risk him freaking out again? Do we just ignore it all and pretend that it never happened?" Darcy pressed and Tony found himself at a loss. He'd never really thought too much about what he needed to say to people before.

"Guess we just see what happens," he replied, shrugging.

He doubted that he would be able to stop himself from blurting out anything though, and he really doubted that Loki was going to be okay.

 _ **I hope you all enjoyed this :)**_

 _ **Next up: Angrboda Part II (enter: Hela, Fenrir and Jormungandr), Frigga tries to control the diplomatic situation, and potentially (if I have time) Tony etc. discuss the myths with Loki.**_


	12. Lunch

_**A/N: I am so sorry about the wait. My life kinda went to shit two Saturdays ago and I was in no position to post anything or even think of fanfic beyond "well, not being able to write is another thing that's going terribly". But anyway, my life seems to be getting back on track, so I hope you enjoy this chapter!**_

 _ **Thank you all for the reviews/favourites/follows, you make this story a joy to write :)**_

 _ **28/03/2018**_

 **Chapter Twelve - Lunch**

"Good morning, Mr Odinson," Loki heard Jarvis say as his eyes blinked open. "It's currently 5.22 am. The weather in Malibu is 59 degrees with scattered clouds…"

Loki closed his eyes and wondered if he could get back to sleep again. He thought he could. His brain still felt fuzzy. So Loki settled back down to sleep. He was still tired and there were hours left before anyone would be up, at least that's what they had told him the evening before.

The evening before.

He had 'freaked out' and embarrassed himself in front of all of them. Not only had he failed to understand their culture he had panicked and collapsed into his host's arms. They would _never_ accept him now. A bolt of self-loathing surged through him and Loki curled up into a ball, head in his hands. Oh, what had he _done?_ Would it be better to leave now, or would they tolerate him because of his knowledge? It would be safer to stay here after all, probably, and it wasn't as if he couldn't cope living somewhere where he was hated.

"Mr Odinson?" Jarvis's concerned voice floated down from the ceiling. "If I might advise you not to panic, there is nothing to worry about here,"

"Isn't there?" Loki asked, semi-hysterically, before apologising profusely. It wouldn't do for the AI to report back to Tony on his terrible manners after everything else.

"Of course not," Jarvis replied, as calmly as ever. "If I might, since your attack last night I have found several anxiety reducing techniques that might work. It would be advisable to try them, even if, like Sir, you completely ignore me in favour of less healthy coping mechanisms,"

Loki briefly wondered what Tony would panic about before brushing the thought aside and nodding. Together with Jarvis he listed off 5 things that he could see (the sofa, the blanket that someone had covered him with, the TV, the sea, the leftover takeout), 4 things he could feel (the blanket, the sofa, his hair brushing his face, and the breeze from what Jarvis told him was air conditioning), 3 things he could hear (Jarvis's voice, his own breathing, and the sea once Jarvis had opened a window), 2 things he could smell (something floral – air freshener apparently, and the takeout on the coffee table) and one thing he could taste (Loki wrinkled his nose in disgust when he realised this was just the taste of long ago eaten food). When he had done this a good number of times, interspersed with breathing in time with Jarvis's commands, he was surprised to find that he did feel a lot calmer. Not completely fine, granted, but better than before.

"Thank you, Jarvis," Loki said.

"You're very welcome," Jarvis replied. "Would you like to talk about what was bothering you?"

"I am not sure," Loki muttered, looking down and twisting his fingers together.

"Studies show that sharing your worries help to reduce levels of stress and anxiety,"

"Okay," Loki said after a few moments, and took a deep breath to steady himself. "I am worried that they will dislike me after my outburst earlier, especially Tony,"

"If I may Mr Odinson, they showed nothing but concern for your wellbeing last night, and didn't seem angry with you at all… You don't seem to believe me but I would just like to point out that Sir found a blanket last night and draped it over you to prevent you getting cold, and Ms Lewis refilled a glass of water in case you were thirsty,"

Loki frowned at this revelation. It was true though, the blanket hadn't been there before, and the glass certainly hadn't been full.

"They were angry at me though, when I couldn't understand why they would like or defend Harry Potter," Loki pointed out quietly.

"I think they were more confused as to why you thought he deserved to be disliked, and angry at those who had made you think like that,"

Loki bit his lip. "But I still don't understand why they would think that is wrong."

"Perhaps you would like to read the book, that might help you to see things from Harry's perspective," Jarvis suggested after a pause. "I am not sure what I could say that doesn't repeat what they said last night,"

Loki nodded.

"Very well," Jarvis replied. "I have uploaded the first book onto the tablet on the coffee table. Please do ask me if you have any questions,"

Tentatively, Loki picked up the tablet and snuggled back on the sofa under the blanket. He began to read, the letters translating through the Allspeak as he scrolled slowly down the page.

 _Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much._

-M-

He had finished the first book (he enjoyed it much more than the film, and he thought he understood where the others had been coming from) and was onto the second before anyone disturbed him. His mind raged at the injustice as Harry was locked away, and for what, because a house elf had used magic, it hadn't really been Harry! He frowned as he realised that Odin would have done exactly the same, had done the same in somewhat similar situations. And that would mean that Odin hadn't been right. But he couldn't think like that, not agreeing with Odin's decisions just caused unnecessary torment.

Someone coughed behind him. Loki jumped and twisted his head around to see Erik, standing awkwardly in the archway to the kitchen in his pyjamas.

"Do you know if Stark keeps any food apart from energy bars and coffee in?" he asked, looking somewhat uncomfortable.

Loki swallowed. "I am not sure," he said quietly, trying to appear as unthreatening and untricksterish as possible. "Perhaps you should ask Jarvis?"

"Sir does not usually eat proper meals, not unless Miss Potts is around," Jarvis said, managing to sound airily disapproving.

"Do you think he'd mind if I got some delivered?"

"It is doubtful that he would,"

"Fantastic," Erik said and made his way over to the opposite end of the sofa and sat down. Loki stared at him in confusion. Erik (who was in the process of using another tablet) could easily have used a different room and yet here he was, sharing the same space as Loki and not even stopping to glare at him. What was his purpose? Was it to make him uncomfortable? Was he trying to be nice?

"Loki," Erik said after some minutes. There came an awkward pause as Erik looked like he was struggling for words. "Do you like green beans?" he eventually finished. Loki doubted that that had been his intended question.

"I have no idea," he replied truthfully. Erik nodded and went back to flicking through his tablet.

It took some time for Loki to be able to get back into the story. He rejoiced as Ron and his brothers rescued Harry and he found a home at the burrow, experienced Harry's revulsion of Lockhart, and felt anxiety grip him when Harry and Ron were unable to get onto platform 9¾.

"Dr Selvig, the delivery has arrived," Jarvis interrupted as Ron started the flying car.

"Help me with the bags will you Loki?" Erik asked and Loki reluctantly put the tablet down, following him through to the front door to collect the bags of shopping and take them through to the kitchen. With Jarvis's help they sorted the food away, during which Erik snacked on a random variety of foods and encouraged Loki to do the same. Loki politely declined, unable to escape the fear that came with taking food that wasn't his, despite Jarvis's assurances that Tony had more money than he knew what to do with. The palace had had more money than they knew what to do with, that hadn't stopped Odin's anger. Loki did understand that Tony was unlikely to react in the way Odin would have done, but that only went so far in counteracting his anxiety.

Right on cue Tony stumbled into the kitchen. "Jarvis, coffee," he ordered and immediately one of the machines on the side began to whir. "Huh, you've been shopping, nice, been meaning to do that,"

And with this Tony slumped down at the table, his head in his hands, and groaned. "It's too early,"

"Sir, it's 12.17 pm,"

"Ugh, you know what I mean J… so breakfast, lunch, what are we having?" he asked.

"I was thinking I'd make some sandwiches," Erik replied.

"Sounds good, I'm good with anything inside them, wake me when you're done," Tony replied.

Loki let out a sigh of relief, it seemed Tony was okay with them buying food off of his account and eating it, everything was okay.

Loki nibbled on what Erik said were blueberries as he helped Erik to prepare sandwiches. He felt instantly happier as he tasted the sweetness of the fruit on his tongue and he found himself feeling more energetic.

Jane entered the kitchen, fully dressed and looking fairly awake, just as they were about to sit down at the table.

"Morning," Erik greeted. "Is Darcy not up yet?"

Jane shook her head. "Still snoring when I looked in on her five minutes ago,"

"Miss Lewis only fell asleep 3 hours and 43 minutes ago, having spent most of the night plotting, I quote, 'sweet, sweet revenge'," Jarvis informed them drily.

"Understandable," Tony commented, taking a gulp of his coffee.

"Revenge against whom?" Loki asked hesitantly, and watched warily as the others looked at each other uncomfortably.

"Loki," Erik said, breaking the silence. "I'm sorry for the way I treated you earlier in the week. The others helped me see that I was wrong for jumping to conclusions,"

"So, who is Darcy getting revenge on?" Loki demanded, a serious edge in his voice.

"I'm guessing a lot of people in Asgard," Tony said nonchalantly and Loki's gaze snapped to him.

"Why would she do that?" he demanded, panic rising in his voice. "Surely she knows she would never stand a chance against the might of Asgard. And why would she want to take revenge in the first place?"

"People were pretty horrible to you in the myths," Jane said quietly. "Now obviously we don't know how truthful they are, but some of the stuff people did to you was horrific,"

"You would defend me?" Loki breathed, making a sound that he wasn't quite sure whether it was a laugh or a sob. They thought people had done horrific things to him. Why?

"Yes," Tony said without a second's hesitation, and Loki stared at him, wide eyed, feeling a sense of rushing gratitude that couldn't be taken away even with the sense of wrongness he felt at someone thinking that he was in the right. Mortals, for some strange reason, stuck up for people like he and Harry. Though he now agreed that maybe Harry shouldn't have been treated as he was, he couldn't say the same for himself.

"Is it okay if we ask you some questions about the myths?" Tony asked and Loki took in a deep breath.

"I suppose," he agreed and Tony shot him a smile that made Loki feel warm inside.

"Did the dwarves really sew your mouth shut?" Tony blurted out and Jane let out a groan that sounded like 'tact' and her head fell into her hands.

Loki laughed, and here he had been thinking that the Midgardians had something real. "No, that was just a story about a trickster that I told to…" he cut off. He couldn't think about Sleipnir. He knew that there was a chance that Frigga might be able to rescue his son, but equally he was faced with the possibility of never seeing him again.

"To who?" Erik asked and Loki took a deep breath? Could he tell them the truth? He supposed he had better, if Frigga was going to be able to get Sleipnir down to Midgard as she promised it was probably best they were forewarned.

"To my son, Sleipnir,"

He watched as their expressions all turned into those of horror, and he slumped down in his chair, unable to look at them anymore. Of course, _of course_ they'd know what a monster his son was. _How_ exactly mortals knew anything was something that needed to be investigated, but that was hardly the problem at the moment.

"It was shitty of them to say that it was your fault and make you find a way to deal with the builder," Tony declared and Loki looked up at them in surprise. Yes, Freyja's actions had been 'shitty', but it had been a long time since he had thought that way, usually he just cursed himself for not having better control over his magic, cursed himself for condemning Sleipnir to such a life.

"But…" Erik said cautiously. "Did you really turn yourself into a horse to distract Svadilfari?"

Loki bit his tongue, trying to force down the memories of the builder's magic holding him in place, the agony of being a horse and the fear of knowing what was coming but being completely paralysed and unable to stop it. _Five things you can see…_ he told himself, trying to focus on his breathing.

"I didn't turn myself into a mare," he said shakily, looking away, _four things you can feel…_ "Bjarke… he wanted more horses…so he…turned me into a mare and… then he made Svadilfari…" he gave a choking sound, unable to finish the sentence, trying to calm the rushing in his head. Suddenly arms wrapped gently around him, and Loki could smell the slight aroma of sweat and burning and the much stronger one of what he had learned to be engine grease.

"….it's okay, you're here with us….you're safe…" he could hear Tony muttering meaningless platitudes, but they helped, and he hugged Tony back, almost clinging to him for dear life, as he tried to control his breathing and focus on the present.

"I'm sorry," Erik said when Loki seemed to have calmed down a bit, he had mostly let go of Tony now.

"It's okay," Loki whispered.

"But oh that's so much worse than the myths," Jane said. "Can you not see why Darcy wants revenge?"

Loki frowned. His failure to fight Bjarke's curse was hardly Darcy's problem, besides, both Bjarke and Svadilfari were dead now.

"Is Sleipnir okay?" Erik asked hesitantly.

"I don't know," Loki replied bitterly. "He was the last time I saw him, but one can only be so happy trapped in the form of a horse,"

"Does Odin actually ride him into battle?" Tony asked and Loki nodded miserably, remembering each time that Odin had ridden him off to fight. Thankfully this had become less frequent as he and Thor had grown and Odin had aged, but each time he had found out what Odin had planned he had felt an immobilising fear for his son's life.

"We have to rescue him." Tony declared and Loki's gaze shot to his.

"You would really do that?" he asked. "Despite the fact that he is an eight-legged monster,"

"Hey, don't you ever call your son that!" Tony said, suddenly angry, and Loki drew back, eyes wide. "How could you think that about your own child?"

"I don't think that!" Loki protested, hoping that Tony would forgive him and that his unexpected fury would abate. "Odin thinks that! He is my son and I love him."

Tony studied him for a moment. "Good," he said. "You have to stop listening to Odin's bullshit,"

Loki gave him a weak smile. "So my mother says. She says she will try to rescue Sleipnir soon too, so I hope you do not mind an eight-legged horse in your house. It would only be for a short amount of time until we found somewhere to hide,"

"We would be delighted to welcome him, and you don't have to leave! What does he eat? Hay? Carrots? Can he still do science?"

Loki laughed, and for once it didn't feel hollow. "Yes, he does. And I am sure he will delight at the chance of doing science, he did always love my stories of magic," he grew quiet for a moment. "Do you know of my other children: Hela, Fenrir and Jormungandr?"

"Sure do,"

"Would you be willing to welcome them here too…if mother can find where he has hidden them?"

"Course," Tony replied and Loki couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"You know what they are?"

"A snake, a wolf, and the goddess of death," Tony said nonchalantly. "Well, you can't say that the mansion isn't going to get interesting,"

Loki shook his head in wonder. "Odin says that my children are fated to cause Ragnarok,"

"Odin's a dick," Tony said bluntly.

Loki knew somewhere in the back of his mind that it was wrong to speak of Odin in such a way, but as he looked at Tony he felt hope for the future as he hadn't known in a long time, and he couldn't help but feel blissfully happy.

 ** _So, I hope everyone enjoyed that!_**

 ** _Next up, what I originally promised would be in this chapter:_ _Angrboda Part II (enter: Hela, Fenrir and Jormungandr) and Frigga tries to control the diplomatic situation and convince Thor to help her._**


	13. Your Monstrous Brats

_**A/N: I can say nothing except Angrboda is a manipulative bitch. I am very pro-choice and I believe that if you want to get an abortion for whatever reason you should do so. Yeah, the foetuses have magic, but doesn't mean they're properly alive, despite what she claims, as it's not like they suddenly get magic after birth, it develops with them, like a brain or a heart. Don't let Angrboda's manipulations and Loki's choices influence your own decisions.**_

 _ **Thank you all for all the reviews, follows and favourites, they make my day 100 times better :)**_

 _ **I admit this does get rather long… sorry? I couldn't think of a suitable point to end it and everything seemed relevant.**_

 _ **02/04/2018**_

 **Chapter Thirteen – Your Monstrous Brats**

 _When Loki next met Angrboda, he was in his room, reading. He lay on his back, looking up at the book that floated easily above his head, turning the pages with a flick of a finger. So when Angrboda suddenly appeared at the foot of his bed, Loki dropped the book on his head in shock._

 _He shot up into a sitting position, rubbing his nose and frantically demanding, "What are you doing here? Are you alright? I have not seen you in half a year! Why could you not have just come into the palace in the normal fashion? Are you in danger? What has happened?"_

 _"Are you quite done?" Angrboda asked, in her usual, sardonic, 'why are you being so difficult?' tone._

 _Loki wasn't sure. He felt that if he stopped talking all the fear and the rage and the longing he felt for Angrboda would come rushing back, and besides, what did she mean by showing up like this, couldn't she just have gone to the main entrance and requested to see him? What did she mean by such secrecy? Whatever had happened, and whatever her plan, he felt that it didn't bode well for him._

 _Still, he nodded and remained silent._

 _"Good," Angrboda replied. "Now, I've hidden us both from Heimdall. We need to talk, and when you've heard what I have to say I think you'll agree that Odin doesn't need to get involved,"_

 _Loki's heart sped up, what did Angrboda have to tell him that she would want kept hidden from Odin? Whatever it was it was had to be dangerous and Loki knew that he did not want to be implicated in it._

 _He told her so._

 _"Oh but Loki you're already involved," Angrboda practically purred._

 _Well, so much for trying to bottle up all his rage._

 _"You left me, on my own, with only a letter,_ six months ago _!" he hissed, sliding out of bed, his hands clutched as fists at his side. "Do you even know how difficult it was to convince Odin that I was ready, to not leave me alone in that empty cabin? You-" he cut off abruptly. He'd wanted to say 'you used me, and then you just left me', but he was unwilling to view their relationship in that light, at least not out loud. Saying it out loud made it more real than he thought he could cope with._

 _He really did not want to be involved in whatever Angrboda was up to. He needed to be on Odin's good side. Especially as Odin had caught Loki seeing if it were possible to lift Sleipnir's enchantment. He hadn't been trying to rescue Sleipnir, no nothing as rash as that; after all where could they run to that they would be safe? Needless to say it had not gone well, but at least he now knew that only Odin's magic could lift the curse that kept Sleipnir trapped in his horse form. His ribs still throbbed a bit whenever he moved, but, he consoled himself, he had managed to control his magic and to not lash out with it, something that he'd been afraid of doing since he had stopped repressing his magic. He would never be as talented at magic as Odin or his mother, but he now had a fine control that won out over the instinctual use of magic he had had as a child._

 _"I'm sure it was such a challenge for you," Angrboda replied, her tone patronising. Loki narrowed his eyes, preparing a suitably scathing response. Without warning Angrboda reached out and grabbed Loki's wrists, forcing his hands to rest on her stomach. Loki's brain screamed at him to fight her, but as usual that did nothing against his well-conditioned response of doing nothing to defend himself._

 _"Do you feel them Loki?" Angrboda asked, her voice low and exhilarated. "Do you feel their power? They have so much life within them already!"_

 _Loki realised with an ever-increasing feeling of dread, spreading from his heart and sending a heaviness through his limbs, that he_ could _feel them. Three bright sparks of new magic that held the signature feel of both his and Angrboda's magic. His children._

 _Angrboda smirked. "You can feel it, can't you? Their magic, Loki; a mix of yours and mine. Three children, each with so much potential, so much power. You would hate for anything to happen to them, wouldn't you?"_

 _At the sound of the veiled threat Loki seemed to come to life and he yanked his hands away from her. "What?" he demanded, his voice low and angry, edged with fear._

 _"Well," replied Angrboda, her voice a mockery of regret. "There are several things I will need you to do for me if you wish for their continued survival,"_

 _"Sorry, are you_ threatening _them,_ your own children _, which you have carried for half a year?" Loki said incredulously._

 _"Yes," Angrboda said. "Do try to keep up,"_

 _"Why?" Loki demanded. "They're your children."_

 _She scoffed. "They're a means to an end. I needed influence in and information about Odin's court, and you're going to help me. If not, well, I know several spells to get rid of your triplets. I don't care about the little beasts, but after everything that happened with Sleipnir I expect you do,"_

 _At this, Odin's words upon finding him with Sleipnir came rushing back:_ If you dare to do anything like this, to have any more monsters again, I _will_ kill them. _Loki resisted the urge to laugh bitterly. He may as well let Angrboda kill them now, at least they wouldn't get to barely experience life before it was snatched from them, at least then they wouldn't be used as bargaining chips, at least they wouldn't grow up as monsters. But that was the thing, what if they were not monsters? Yes, Loki was a monster himself, but Angrboda wasn't, and whenever they'd had sex they had both been in Aesir form. There was no reason why the children would not be normal. And Angrboda was right, he had been able to feel their magic, their lifeforce, beneath his fingers. And therein lay the problem._

 _Loki considered his dilemma. Of course, it was very wrong to betray Odin and Asgard and commit treason. But did he not owe it to his children to at least try to keep them safe? If the children were born normal, maybe he could rescue them from Angrboda, maybe he would be permitted to raise them? Besides, from Loki's basic knowledge of children he knew that Angrboda had less than a year until the triplets were born, surely he could not do too much damage to the political situation in that time?_

 _Loki closed his eyes and reached out with his senses to feel the sparks of magic inside of Angrboda. She was right. He couldn't let anything happen to them._

 _"Well?"_

 _"You have been planning this for a while," Loki surmised after a pause, his voice calm._

 _"Since Odin first came to see me about teaching you. I have to say that it was easier than I ever could have guessed," Angrboda said, her voice light._

 _"And this is why you needed to sleep with me?"_

 _Angrboda shrugged. "Well, yes. When talking to Odin about tutoring you, Sleipnir came up and I realised that this would be a good way to control you. But I can't say that you weren't gorgeous all terrified and pathetically conflicted like that. 'Oh I need Angrboda to like me, I must do what she wants'" she mocked. "Holding you down and making you fuck me was nothing short of thrilling,"_

 _Loki growled, his blood boiling, and he launched himself at her. He had no spell in mind, he knew he just wanted to hurt her, and if it was with his bare hands so be it._

 _Angrboda shoved him away with a blast of her magic and he fell to the floor, sprawled out on his back, his head spinning slightly from where it had hit the tiles. When he looked up, Angrboda was looking at him in disappointment, her hands placed on her stomach. Loki felt as if he had fallen into an icy lake as fear rushed the anger away._

 _"No!" he cried, and Angrboda smiled, her eyes glittering with malevolent triumph._

 _"Good," she said, and lowered her hands. "I see that you understand how this works now… Oh no, no stop that thought there! You cannot win here Loki; hurt me and your children get hurt, and you've got no one to go to for help, no one to try to stop me with. I suppose you could tell your mother. But what good would that do? You can't let her know, because then I'll let her know what you are, and therefore what your children are, she won't protect you. Oh and to think of you shaming her in such a way, fathering_ three _illegitimate children, and you're not even of age, tut tut, Loki,"_

 _"You forced me!" Loki spat, letting the fear he had felt in all the memories that were threatening to resurface transform itself back into anger._

 _"Did I?" Angrboda smirked, her tone one of mock surprise. "Oh Loki, how weak and unmanly you are, what a_ disappointment _,"_

 _Loki glared at her furiously, grinding his teeth together, battling the urge to cry from the helplessness that tried to overwhelm him._

 _"So, are you ready to discuss the information I need you to recover now?"_

-M-

 _Over the following months Loki seemed to take an unnatural interest in the court proceedings. Odin was annoyed, but as long as Loki faded into the background as much as possible he wasn't too bothered. Frigga told him she was proud (and perhaps that was one of the reasons Odin didn't seem too eager to stop him), and Loki conjured up a warm smile, pretending to bask in her praise, all the while remembering why he was doing this, that he was the opposite of a dutiful son, and what she'd think of him if she knew._

 _Angrboda dropped by periodically. He reported to her on the politics, the grudges, the alliances, the plans for other realms, the plans for war, who liked what, who liked whom. Most of the time he was despondent, he conveyed what she wanted to know with a blank expression, knowing he didn't have another choice and pretending he didn't care. Most of the time he kept his fury in check. Angrboda would be raising them after all, and it wouldn't do to make her unduly frustrated with the children. She was like Odin, he protected Sleipnir by being as obedient and deferent as possible, so that's what he would do here. Sometimes though, he did get up the courage to ask her questions about the future._

 _"What happens after they are born," he demanded after telling her about an argument between Tyr and Hoenir. "Will this continue? You don't love them," he pointed out._

 _"No I don't," Angrboda laughed lightly. "But I can't let_ you _have them can I? I'll let you visit sometimes, if you're good,"_

 _Loki found himself filled with a sense of despair that only grew as he approached their due date. His children would grow up unloved, uncared for, and alone except for each other. Who even knew what Angrboda would do to them? She certainly wouldn't care for them, not unless it suited her. For the hundredth time he wondered if he had made the right decision. Maybe it would have been better to let Angrboda abort them with her magic. But he was still unwilling to give up. He couldn't while there was still hope. Futile hope, yes, but hope._

-M-

 _Roughly seven months after Angrboda had first appeared unannounced in his room, one of the messenger boys that worked in the palace knocked frantically on the door. Loki opened the door to see the boy breathing heavily, clearly fighting the urge to support himself on the doorframe._

 _"What has happened?" he demanded, drawing himself up to his full height and looking at the boy gravely, every inch the prince he was meant to be in this potential crisis._

 _"I have a message from the sorceress Angrboda, she asks that if you wish to continue your magic lessons you will travel to Alfheim immediately,"_

 _Loki barely managed to hide the surprise that he felt. There was no reason for Angrboda to want to continue the lessons, she had made that very clear, so what did she want instead?_

 _The timing of her summons was undoubtedly significant. Odin and Frigga had gone on a highly publicised political (or familial in Frigga's case) visit to Vanaheim. The visit itself symbolised two things: that Odin wished to have a bigger involvement in his wife's family and home realm, and that Thor, having come of age a few years previously, was now ready to take a greater role in the running of Asgard. The second part was purely ceremonial, designed to show off Thor and appease the people, of this Loki was sure. Despite Odin waxing poetic about how proud he was of his son, Loki doubted that Odin really thought that Thor was ready, especially as Frigga had invited Loki to tea in her chambers, and pleaded with him to work with the councillors and ensure everything ran smoothly and Thor didn't make too much of a mess anything. So far, Loki had been proud of his accomplishments. Though he was sure that Odin would find fault in his actions on his return, he had handled two council meetings smoothly, and settled a dispute between two of the notable families of Asgard, ensuring that their feud didn't devolve into a duel. He found it easier to bring himself to the centre of attention now that Odin was not around, and he found it nice that the courtiers closest to Frigga always seemed to want to help him understand the intricacies of running councils and check that he was feeling alright. Of course, greater involvement meant more information to give to Angrboda, but he decided to ignore that. Thor, unsurprisingly, was currently on a hunting trip with Sif and the Warriors Three._

 _With Odin gone Loki could travel to Alfheim without his permission. Angrboda knew this._

 _But all of that was besides the point. There were two reasons he could think of why Angrboda might be demanding his presence. Either she perceived that he had given her misinformation (in which case it might be better to hide away from her until she had calmed down). Or, the children had come early. Much too early; thirteen months instead of sixteen._

 _As much as he was loath to abandon his duty to the council like this, he knew that no matter the consequences he needed to go to Angrboda, he needed to know if his children would be alright._

 _"I will be at the Bifrost shortly," Loki informed the messenger, before shutting the door and shoving what he thought might be important into his bag (including a change of clothes, his knives and a magic book on concealment and defensive charms – he still fantasised about being able to rescue them, and he wanted to be prepared so as not to ruin a chance)._

 _He quickly teleported himself to the Bifrost. Heimdall stood in front of him, as immovable as ever._

 _"I wish to travel to Angrboda's cabin on Alfheim," Loki said, his voice level. "She has requested my presence so that I may continue my magic lessons,"_

 _"I cannot see the witch, and I have not been able to for some time," Heimdall replied, his amber eyes seeming to bore into Loki's. Loki, uncomfortable, shifted his shoulders minutely. "I do not trust her, and I cannot let you past,"_

 _"Odin wishes me to continue magic lessons," Loki said, taking care to keep the panicked edge out of his voice. "He said that as soon as Angrboda was ready to teach me I should go there again. To do otherwise would be to disobey the commands of my king,"_

 _Heimdall considered him for a second, and Loki kept his gaze steady. "You have a duty to your kingdom, as the second prince of Asgard, you cannot leave at a time like this,"_

 _Loki let out a short laugh. "Governing Asgard is hardly the job of an unwanted Frost Giant, as I am sure you agree. It is Thor's duty, let him do it. Even if the councillors have to run Asgard alone they would fare better without my guidance,"_

 _"You are returning to her, despite her actions towards you the last time you went there?"_

 _Loki shoved down the fear and helplessness that came from thinking about his time with Angrboda. "She did not treat me with cruelty," Loki lied. That was the answer that Heimdall would expect, as that is what Loki had thought at the time, and he had acted accordingly. It did not matter that now he knew better._

 _Loki thought he caught the twitch of a smile at the corner of Heimdall's lips, and Loki tried very hard to suppress the hatred for Heimdall that flared up inside of him. "Very well." Heimdall said, walking inside the Bifrost and readying his sword. "If you wish to go, you may. However I will be informing Odin of your decision on his return."_

 _Loki merely nodded and readied himself for the sensation of Bifrost travel. Odin learning of this was nothing he had not expected._

-M-

 _Loki waited a few seconds to allow the dizziness of the Bifrost to leave him before sprinting off towards the cabin. Who knew how long ago Angrboda had sent out her message? It would not do to keep her waiting any longer. What if she had already done something to his children?_

 _When he burst through the door the first thing he saw was Angrboda, frowning at him from a chair by the fireplace, sipping on what Loki guessed to be a healing potion from the colour of the steam._

 _Before he could open his mouth to demand an explanation, Angrboda gestured to her left and rolled her eyes. Loki followed her gaze to see three servants, each cradling a small bundle. "I thought you might like a short while with them," she said, sounding bored. "I gave birth a few days ago, and I thought 'Odin's not on Asgard, and Loki'll probably complain if I don't show him that they're okay',"_

 _One of the servants stood up and passed one of the bundles over to him. Loki took it carefully, making sure to support the head of the child properly. Loki looked down at the newborn, a boy, the servant told him. The baby gazed up at him with Loki's bright green eyes and made a gurgling noise. Loki felt a huge sense of relief as he looked down on his son. He was perfect. Blessedly normal. He grinned as he took in the child's small tuft of black hair and wondered if it would stay that way, or if it would change colour like several of the books he had read said it could._

 _"You can name them if you want," Angrboda offered, taking another sip of the potion. "I don't care,"_

You look like Fenrir would suit you, _Loki thought, smiling warmly at the child. He had given a lot of thought over names (on the subject of which he desperately wanted to hold the others and see if any of the names that he had thought of would suit them too, but wasn't sure if he was ready to let go of Fenrir quite yet), but hadn't actually expected Angrboda to allow him to name the children. He was happy that she'd given him the chance, and the feeling of holding his son in his arms allowed him to momentarily push aside the fear of the children living with someone who cared nothing for them._

 _"His name is Fenrir," Loki announced._

 _Angrboda scoffed, and out of the corner of his eye Loki could see her wrinkling her nose, as if in disgust. Loki felt a strange sense of satisfaction that Angrboda disliked the name. They were Loki's children. Not hers._

 _His thoughts were interrupted by a shill scream from one of the servants._

 _"She's dead!" she shrieked, her voice grating and hysterical, and Loki was certain that he'd never felt such terror._

 _Somehow he managed to get Fenrir safely into the hands of the first servant and he managed to pry the baby out of the shaking hands of the second before she dropped it._

 _Loki stared down at the corpse cradled in his arms and his legs almost gave way in horror. He could only see the baby's head but that was enough to know that she was undeniably dead. Her skin had rotted away, leaving sporadic layers of muscle and much exposed bone. The strangest thing was her eyes. They were still there and they were…moving? Yes, they were definitely flicking around. And the child was even squirming slightly._ How? _And then it hit Loki. He had spawned yet another monster, it was probably a shapeshifter like Sleipnir, and if that were the case…_

 _Loki carefully touched the side of the baby's face with his free hand. At once, the baby's face shifted back to that of a normal baby._

 _He clutched the child to his chest and looked wildly around, his eyes settling on Angrboda. He needed to get all of his children out of here. Quickly. Before any of the others realised and tried to harm them._

 _"Well," Angrboda said, mistaking his panic for grief, though he paid little attention to her. "At least you have two more of them. A successful birth of triplets is notoriously difficult,"_

 _The child, who seemed to want to make his plans more difficult, began to wail._

 _"What?" said Angrboda, but Loki's attention was drawn by the shriek of the third servant._

 _"It's a…oh_ Norns _it's a snake!"_

 _Loki watched, frozen in horror as the woman launched the bundle across the room. Luckily, Angrboda seemed to react quicker than he did and the small form of a snake hung in the air as the blankets that the baby was once swaddled in fell to the floor in a heap._

 _"What is the meaning of this?" Angrboda demanded, making a beckoning gesture with her fingers, and the snake floated steadily towards her. Suddenly, Loki seemed to come back to life. He hit Angrboda with a blast of his magic and weak from childbirth and caught unawares she collapsed back into the chair, unconscious. He caught the baby, still in snake form, with his magic before it could hit the ground._

 _Loki turned menacingly to the servants._

 _"You will give me my remaining child, and then you will let me leave," he stated and they nodded, casting anxious glances over to Angrboda's unmoving form. Loki levitated the remaining baby out of the last servant's hands, making sure its body was fully supported by the spell (after all, he couldn't properly carry two newborns and a snake safely himself), and then turned and walked swiftly out of the house._

-M-

 _The next years were difficult. He travelled from place to place, never staying anywhere long._

 _At first he kept to barns, making sure to break the spells that detected intruders and to teleport himself and his children away whenever he felt anyone coming too close. It was shelter, at least, and he could get milk from the animals there to feed his children with, he snatched bits of food that he thought wouldn't be missed from nearby houses when he couldn't sense any protection spells around the dwellings._

 _His magic improved exponentially. The first thing he mastered was a spell to make sure his magic couldn't be sensed or traced (he was certain that Angrboda would try to find him), and then a spell to block Heimdall from view (ironically, Angrboda had been the one to teach him this). He also focused on invisibility spells (useful when travelling and hiding) and a spell that would muffle his infants' cries to try to avoid people finding them hiding in their barns._

 _He also became very good at modifying people's memories. According to a one of the spellbooks he had read while studying under Angrboda, this was very difficult magic and not usually attempted, partially because if done wrong it could damage the minds of both the caster and the one who was having their memory modified. But through either talent or desperation (Loki figured it was probably the latter) Loki found himself becoming quite good at them. It was somewhat of a necessity, whether someone became furious on the occasions that they caught him sleeping in their barns with his children snuggled close to him, near bathed in warming spells, or sorting through their larder, or whether they gave him kind offers of assistance, Loki couldn't trust them, couldn't trust who'd they would tell. So, out of necessity, he modified their memories._

 _It took some years for Loki to start trusting people. And even then, after he had agreed to stay in their homes or come in for a meal or let them check his children were healthy, he would sometimes remove their knowledge of the event. After all, who knew who they might tell and what word might spread._

 _Eventually, Loki settled in a cottage half a mile outside of a small farming village. Every time he left he made sure to cover himself with layers of illusions, making himself look more elf-like, the most notable change being the colour of his hair and eyes so that he had the typical blonde hair and bluey-grey eyes of the elves in that part of Alfheim. Everyone who asked why he was living alone with three children and no wife was told that his lover had had the children out of wedlock, thinking the situation incredibly romantic, then, once presented with the reality of the situation, had run back to her family to plead forgiveness, leaving Loptr (Loki) ostracised from his family and with three children._

 _Of course, many in the village were fairly disapproving of the situation. 'Loptr' had been irresponsible and they complained that his children needed a female influence in their lives. Most of them warmed to him though when he spoke politely to them in the markets or they saw him playing with the toddling figures of his three children (or occasionally two children and their dog) in the fields. The breakthrough in his social standing came when he let slip that he could read the runes of many realms and several families asked him to teach their children. During these lessons his children sat (relatively quietly) in the corner of whichever room he was teaching in and played with the toys he had fashioned with his magic._

 _Often, Loki wondered if becoming such a prominent figure in the village (more and more parents, some even from surrounding villages, sent their children to him after positive reviews from others, and he occasionally helped the blacksmith by winding spells into blades to strengthen them) was putting his children in danger but he supposed that if he was going to have a life and be safe somewhere he needed to be settled and for people to trust him._

 _The trickiest part was his children's forms. He had no idea how Odin knew how to trap someone in a certain form, and even if he were willing to experiment he wasn't sure he wanted to. He had soon got used to Hela's tendency to look like a reanimated corpse, and adored Fenrir's playfulness as a puppy and Jormungandr's tendency to wrap himself around anything that he could find. What he was less fond of, though had soon got used to, was their Frost Giant forms. Loki figured that if he could cope with Hela being the Goddess of Death (at least, that was his best guess), he could cope with his children turning blue and freezing things every once in a while. Luckily, this did not happen often as the climate was too warm for a Jotun to feel comfortable. Their animal forms were, however, a problem._

 _Loki usually dealt with this by constantly keeping his senses on the look out for any magic. When he recognised the innate burst of magic that accompanied one of his children shapeshifting, he instinctively cast an illusion. As the children grew however, they did seem to be aware of what the residents of Alfheim looked like and want to stay in their Aesir forms as they were the most similar. When things did go wrong, there were always memory spells._

 _But in Loki's new village there had been no incidents and he was slowly starting to relax. He liked to sit out in the sunshine that bathed the fields around their house and watch his children learn to toddle around and babble happily to each other. He showed them magic and created illusions that acted out their favourite stories._

 _On the day Loki came of age he sat under a tree and watched Jormungandr slithering through the autumn leaves. Fenrir dived and leapt through them, tail wagging, causing as much chaos as he possibly could. Hela tottered beside him, grabbing still-green leaves off the trees and turning them red and brown like the leaves on the ground. She threw her magically created autumn leaves at Fenrir and Jormungandr and Loki twitched his fingers and created a breeze so that her weak throws would actually reach them. As the sky took on a reddish pink glow he wondered if he could possibly feel more content._

 _Of course, it could never last._

 _The day things went wrong, Snorri, one of the more important members of the village invited Loki round his house to continue teaching his sons runes and the history of the Nine Realms. Having had a prince's education, and access to the largest library in the Nine Realms, had certainly been a benefit, Loki thought. He knocked on the door, Hela under one arm, Jormungandr toddling along beside him, and Fenrir, who had been exceedingly difficult that morning, in his wolf puppy form. Loki still wasn't sure who he was going to claim was looking after Fenrir._

 _Snorri opened the door and beckoned Loki inside. "Come in, come in," he said, smiling. Loki frowned, Snorri's smile didn't seem to reach his eyes and his shoulders seemed tensed. Still, he stepped inside, his boys scrambling through the doorway behind him. "The children should be in the kitchen," Snorri said, but Loki didn't move. Something was very, very wrong about the magical signature of the house._

 _Abruptly, he turned to Snorri. "You're lying," he stated and watched as Snorri's face seemed to drain of all colour._

 _"I… I beg your pardon?" Snorri stammered._

 _Loki set his jaw. Throwing out his senses and trying to figure out what was wrong. "We're leaving," he informed Snorri, spinning round to turn the door handle. It wouldn't budge._

 _"What?"_

 _Suddenly Fenrir gave a pained yelp from behind him and he spun around to see Fenrir lying on the ground, blood seeping out of a gash in his throat._

 _Loki was only dimly aware that he'd let out an unearthly cry as he rushed towards his son's side, Fenrir the only thing that he was aware of, before slamming into something hard and flying backwards._

 _Angrboda materialised in front of him and Loki's senses suddenly seemed to work properly again. The house was normal, save for the overwhelming presence of Angrboda. Briefly, he realised that the house had felt so wrong because she had been using a shielding spell, but it hadn't worked properly._

 _Loki could see the knife that she had used to slit Fenrir's throat dripping blood and still held in her hand and he sent the strongest blast of magic he had ever used flying at her, knowing that he had never wanted to kill someone more than he did at that moment._

 _Angrboda laughed and deflected his magic with ease. "Sweetie, I've been doing this for centuries," she smirked, twirling the knife in her fingers. Loki screamed, whether it was more with rage or grief he wasn't sure. She stalked towards him as he lay on the ground, using whatever spell Bjarke had used all those years ago to render him immobile. "Did you really_ think _that you could humiliate me like that? Give me monsters? Did you believe that you could get away with it? The court are furious with my lack of information on Asgard, several of the families want my head, and it's all your fault! Believe me Loki, I did not spend almost a hundred years tracking down you and your monstrous brats to get away without my re…"_

 _Angrboda noticed it a second before Loki did. The power building inside of Hela was like nothing he had ever felt before. It was something beautiful and terrible and a thousand times stronger than the Odinforce. It was something natural and inevitable that induced dread and peace at the same time. Loki was so caught up in its feeling that for several seconds he failed to notice where she was directing her power._

 _Fenrir seemed to glow with a golden light. He was hovering several feet above the floor and seemed to be twitching sporadically. Blood seemed to stop seeping from the gash in his neck and Loki watched in awe as the wound appeared to slowly knit itself back together._

 _Loki could feel Angrboda's binding spell wavering as a result of her surprise and he pushed against it with his own magic, feeling for weaknesses and muttering a countercurse, that though made up, seemed to fit with the rules of magic._

 _It broke._

 _Immediately, Loki was up. Summoning a ceremonial dagger from the wall he threw it at Angrboda's back and into her heart._

 _She turned round to stare at him, a slight frown on her face._

 _"Surely you know that you can't kill a sorcerer as powerful as me like that?" she said mildly. She summoned the knife out of her back, and threw it towards Loki. He rolled towards Hela, whose power seemed to be waning as Fenrir landed back on the floor and his lively green eyes flickered back open._

 _Then he realised, Hela was the Goddess of Death._

 _And there was only one way to get rid of Angrboda and protect his children for good._

 _As Angrboda prepared another curse he grabbed Hela's hand and took a deep breath as he felt her power wash through him._

 _Just before Angrboda was about to strike he shot out a hand, sending a burst of his green energy mixed with Hela's gold at her. Only one thing was on his mind. He wanted her to be gone, for this to be over, for her to never harm any of his children again, for her to be_ dead.

 _Loki knew he would never forget the shocked expression on Angrboda's face as she crumbled to dust before his eyes, nor the terrible power of creation and destruction that flowed through his veins._

 _After they had travelled through the portal to Vanaheim, Loki would later wonder if using his child as a murder weapon was an entirely okay thing to do even given the situation._

 _But at that moment he only had one thought in his mind._

 _"Run."_

-M-

"So, you mean to say that all I have believed has been a twisting of the truth?" Thor demanded. They were sitting in Frigga's study, books strewn everywhere, a few new dents in the desk from where Thor had struggled to control his temper.

"That is exactly what I mean," Frigga replied, her voice steady.

"I do not understand," Thor admitted, running a hand through his hair. "What you have said makes sense and yet it goes against everything everyone knows, everything Father taught,"

Thor sighed, the past few hours had involved a lot of frustration and wishing to smash things with Mjolnir, and a lot of explanation and repetition on his mother's part, but also a deep impression that things were finally starting to make sense. There was logic and reason behind people's decisions now.

"Mother," Thor said steadily, finally daring to voice the thought that had been bothering him throughout their discussion. "If what you say is true, it would mean that I have slaughtered hundreds of innocents,"

Frigga considered him for a minute and Thor resisted the urge to look away uncomfortably, he had been meant to be king, and he would comport himself as such. Even if he did now feel as if he wasn't ready to be king.

"Yes, you have," he replied. "But you must recognise your mistakes, look at what led you to making them, and not let this situation reap only misfortune. You can help put things right Thor,"

"By giving them back the Casket,"

Frigga nodded.

"Mother, they will not believe what you have to say," Thor sighed. "The people will not change their minds so easily,"

"Of course not," Frigga said, and Thor wondered why she was being so calm about this. The people were of course respectful and deferent to the crown, but surely they would not accept this. "And that is why I need your help."

Thor tilted his head in confusion. This was not something that he was suited for. Loki, when he didn't hide himself away, or stand there unmoving, timid and quiet, had always been the one with the head for politics, and he did seem to be able to manipulate people into his way of thinking, spinning words to get himself and Thor out of many a tricky situation. But Thor? Everyone knew that Thor lacked tact, said the first thing that came into his mind, and although he was very good at convincing people to go into battles and quests with him…well this, this was the opposite of that.

"I do not see what use I would be," Thor said gravely. "Surely the people would just think that the Frost Giants had cast a spell on my mind during our battle?" Come to think of it, how did Thor not know that that wasn't exactly what Laufey had done to his mother? Her words made too much sense to be fiction though, and after all, he was not at all certain that the Allfather's stories could be trusted now. He had seen a very new side of him when he had banished Loki and Thor had the awful feeling that views of the man he had so admired could not fully be believed in.

"This is why you must appeal to their sense of honour," Frigga told him. "You must say that the Frost Giants attacked only because we have been driving them to extinction, that if we give them their Casket back they will be grateful and willing to work peacefully with us as they did two thousand years ago. You must tell them there is no honour in letting an enemy slowly waste away, and that it would be cowardice not to give them back the Casket. They will listen to you, Thor. You are strong and brave and are thus loved and admired by all. If you believe in what you are saying, Asgard will listen to you,"

Thor nodded uncertainly.

"I will try,"

 _ **So, I hope you all enjoyed that :D**_

 _ **Next chapter: Loki stands up to Odin and it is beautiful (or, what happened after he fled to Vanaheim with his kids in the wake of Angrboda's death)**_

 _ **Tony, Loki, Jane, Darcy and Erik bond over science or something (haven't quite decided, but they need more team bonding and they weren't in this chapter, so they'll be there)**_

 _ **(Potentially - probs will be in chapter 15 instead) Thor makes a speech and the fate of the Casket is decided.**_


	14. The Snake

_**Note on continuity – in chapter nine Loki wonders why if Odin had the power to remove his magic he had never done it before. For reasons that will become evident, I would like to change this to Loki wondering why Odin had the power to remove his magic *for long periods of time, even during the Odinsleep* he hadn't done it before.**_

 _ **As it stands, replacing chapters on here is complicated, I know it deletes views on the chapter, but I am not sure whether it deletes reviews too as the only chapter I have ever replaced was about four years ago and I had no reviews on the chapter. As I am rather attached to the reviews I have received I am thus reluctant to make the necessary changes to the chapter. If anyone knows whether or not the reviews are deleted, info on this would be gratefully received.**_

 _ **Tdlr: pretend that's what the line in chapter nine said and there are no continuity issues :D**_

 _ **Thank you for all the reviews, follows and favourites, I love you all :)**_

 _ **07/04/2018**_

 **Chapter Fourteen – The Snake**

"We should go to the beach," Tony said suddenly, looking up from the mass of equations that he had been staring at for the past who knew how long.

This statement was followed by what seemed like a long silence, the others clearly engrossed in their work in various degrees of frustration.

"When?" Erik asked eventually, as if he were waking up from a deep sleep, from the other side of the workshop.

"Now," Tony replied, kicking back his chair and standing up. He stretched his arms up and looked up at the ceiling, sighing contentedly as his neck clicked.

"Are you sure?" Jane said, clearly in the middle of something. "There's still so much that we have to do!"

"Yeah," he said easily. He might feel bad about dragging her away from her work, but he was unable to concentrate anymore. He needed a break. He needed to do something, _anything._ "Come on, we've been working on this for how long now?"

"A week,"

"Exactly. And we're not much further along than when we started. We need some team bonding time!"

"I'm down," Darcy said, looking up from what was probably Facebook. "Loki?"

Loki frowned slightly and Tony wondered if they had beaches back on Asgard. If not, no matter, that was just another reason why he had to make the ridiculously attractive god… _okay, backtrack, I thought we'd agreed to stop having inappropriate thoughts about a traumatised god when Pepper could still come back?_ Tony tried to get his thoughts to move onto safer areas. He wanted to help Loki, _not_ make out with him! Right?

"Okay," Loki said, and Tony grinned in triumph. "What exactly does one do on a beach?"

Tony shrugged. "We could swim, sunbathe, surf, hell even build a sandcastle if you want!"

"I will join you then," Loki replied, still looking slightly confused.

"Great!"

"Don't we need to worry about paparazzi?" Erik asked hesitantly.

"Nah, I have a private beach," Tony responded. "And Jarvis monitors the surrounding area for any uninvited guests,"

"Then I don't see why not," Erik replied, stretching and getting up from his chair. "Jane?"

"No…I need to finish these equations…" Jane muttered. "Hey!"

"Come on Jane, you need to get out once in a while! Fresh air! Healthiness!" Darcy exclaimed, dragging Jane out of her seat. "Don't you want to see Loki trying to surf?"

" _You_ don't want to see _me_ trying to surf!" Jane assured her. "Oh _fine,_ I'll come!"

"Yes!"

-m-

Tony had held a number of parties on the beach in the past and so less than five minutes later found him searching through a cupboard containing swimwear that he had kept around in case he spontaneously invited people over for a beach or pool party and they didn't have anything to wear. He hadn't bothered to throw it all out after Afghanistan and now he was glad of his decision.

"You have clothes for bathing in the sea?" Loki questioned, taking the pair of trunks that Tony offered him.

"Yeah, don't you do that on Asgard?" Tony said, now trying to find something for Erik.

"We don't really have a sea," Loki replied. "Though I suppose that the water around the Bifrost could be counted as one. We generally swim in lakes, and there is no shame in bathing naked there. Mortals seem to worry too much about decency." At this point, Tony was very glad that it seemed that Loki had found none of his more indecent acts on YouTube yet. Darcy certainly had, something that made him cringe slightly. "Of course, that is not to say that people won't judge you…" Loki grimaced and Tony felt a flare of sympathy. Asgard had really messed Loki up.

"Well, as much as I would like to see you…that's…I mean," Tony said, flustered. He really should work on thinking before speaking. "It's not really the custom here,"

Tony looked back at Loki who seemed to be blushing slightly. Erik, in the background, looked as if he wanted to be anywhere but there. "I am afraid you wouldn't find me particularly pleasing," Loki laughed drily. "I am much too thin to be considered handsome, I am not Thor or any of his friends,"

"I don't know," Tony replied, unable to keep the flirtatious edge out of his voice. "Some people dig the whole ridiculously tall and elegant vibe,"

Loki smiled sadly. "If only," he said, turning around and walking back to Jane.

Tony wanted to scream at him to come back, wanted to declare that he was hopelessly attracted to the god's beautiful body and brilliant mind, but he at least had the sense not to make it worse.

"Tony," Erik said in a low voice. "Can't you see he's already been used by too many people, don't make it worse. He's not your next conquest or playboy model,"

Tony wasn't sure whether he wanted to scream in frustration or be grateful that Erik did now seem to be firmly on Loki's side.

-m-

"Yes, that does look 'cool'," Loki argued. "But it is completely useless in terms of defence. If we want our sandcastle to be properly defendable we have to build the wall more like..."

Tony raised his eyebrows at Loki's unnecessarily detailed explanation. The castle was already built against a rock to prevent imaginary hostile invaders from taking it from the north and far too intricate to be made of sand alone (he was certain that magic had to be involved somewhere) but, Loki, who had taken to sandcastle building like a duck to water, was adamant that they take this seriously.

"Sure, why not," Tony shrugged. They were easily winning the sandcastle competition with the most accurate representation of a castle ever made out of sand, Tony was sure, so even if the weird shaped turret Tony had proposed wasn't used they would still totally beat Jane, Darcy and Erik's pathetic excuse of a sandcastle.

Together they shaped the outer eastern wall, Loki frowning as he used a wet stone to engrave some detail into the sand wall.

Loki was way too good for this to be his first time with sandcastles. Magic was definitely being used somewhere.

They had spent an enjoyable afternoon messing about in the sea, Tony trying to teach Loki to surf. Again, he had been surprisingly good for this first attempt at something. Loki assured him this came from many days in his childhood being spent stood on the backs of horses, competing with his brother to be the last to fall off. Evidently, that did wonders for balance. Eventually, everyone had grown tired and Darcy had suggested a sandcastle competition.

"You know, when we rescue Sleipnir, we should totally take him to the beach, kids love stuff like this," Tony commented and out of the corner of his eye he saw Loki's arm, still carving slit windows in the wall with the stone, freeze. Tony looked over at him to see Loki staring at him with such an expression of what was it… hope, relief, amazement, all of the above? It bothered Tony how unused Loki was to people actually wanting to help him, how strange it was to him that people might actually accept his kids. "We'll take your others too, when we find them, who do you think will like swimming best?"

"Fenrir," Loki responded quietly, after a pause during which Tony wondered if he was actually going to answer. "He always did enjoy taking baths the most, and splashing about in lakes, especially when he was in his wolf form,"

"Cool," Tony said, grinning. "Well, we have our own private beach for use whenever he wants,"

"Tony," Loki said seriously, looking him in the eyes. "Thank you,"

"No problem," he replied easily, but couldn't help the warm glow he felt inside.

-M-

" _You need to call me Hel," Hela said seriously, spooning some potato into her mouth. "To avoid confusion,"_

 _Loki frowned. "Why would calling you Hela be confusing?"_

 _Hela scrunched up her nose, as she did every time she thought hard about something, before scanning her blue eyes over everyone at the table and stating conspiratorially. "It's a secret,"_

" _I see," Loki replied, doing his best not to laugh. If Hela, or Hel apparently, wanted a nickname who was he to stop her? "Alright, we shall call you Hel then,"_

" _She says… oh no, nobody's said anything!" Hela exclaimed, shoving the rest of her food into her mouth with alarming speed and refusing to look at anybody, except for glancing occasionally at the empty space next to her._

 _Loki was spared from wondering about Hela's..._ Hel's _increasingly strange behaviour by Fenrir, who seemed to find it awfully funny to throw a carrot at Loki's face. Loki rolled his eyes at his children's giggles; mealtimes were never anything short of chaotic._

 _The trickster inside of him that he'd tried so hard to suppress for most of his life liked that._

-m-

 _Later that night Loki sat up in bed, rereading a spell book he had bartered for at the market a few weeks ago, a conjured ball of floating, pale green fire giving him enough light to see the pages. His children slept beside him, Jormungandr snoring softly, his short legs thrown on top of Fenrir's stomach. He would perhaps have tried to convince his children that everything was fine, nothing could harm them and they should sleep in their own beds, if he didn't feel the same terror at the idea of being separated from them. Angrboda's attack had taken its toll, and though Loki made sure not to share his fears with the children, he still worried that Odin would find them._

 _Though Loki said that they shouldn't be afraid, he rather thought that the children, bright despite their young age, could see that his actions clearly contradicted his words. On their arrival on Vanaheim (and finding a passageway between realms had been no easy feat) he had located a disused cottage in the middle of a deep, uninhabited wood, and thrown hundreds of protection spells up around them. He never left, not except to take rushed visits to different markets on Vanaheim to barter for things that he couldn't hunt or grow in the garden, and he never took the children with him when he did so. This was something that terrified him and always plagued his conscience. What if someone found them while he was away? But Loki knew that it was near impossible to break through the wards and one heavily glamoured man was less easy to remember than a man and his triplets._

 _Loki felt claustrophobic, and he was sure that his children did too, but the idea of going out into the world and trying to mix with a community again filled him with terror. Somehow, word had reached Angrboda last time, which had led to her presumably threatening the man that had led Loki and his children into the trap she had laid. Loki wasn't sure if he blamed Snorri, Angrboda had been very manipulative and the man had had a large family which he'd probably wanted to keep safe, but that didn't change what had happened._

 _Loki hated that his thoughts always lead back to Angrboda. Because then he couldn't forget how he had used his daughter to murder her. Had it been the right thing to do? Certainly his children had been in danger and he had not seen another available option. And if he were to relive that situation he would do it all again. But he had given Hela… or apparently 'Hel' now… no choice in the matter. He had made her a murderer at only one hundred and twelve years old._

 _Hel, thoughtful and precocious, hadn't seemed very perturbed by the event, and Loki supposed that if you had the power to create or destroy life perhaps you wouldn't be. Indeed, the only real issues she seemed to be suffering from was a stronger clinginess, especially to Fenrir, whom she regularly attacked with hugs, and temper tantrums in which she'd claimed that she wanted to go home, that she missed the fields and the old cottage and the other children. Loki figured that that was probably a good thing, not being scared of going back there. And of course, there was the potential issue of who he assumed was her imaginary friend._

 _At least, Loki hoped that it was an imaginary friend. Several times he had worried that some evil spirit was trying to manipulate Hel, but all he could sense was her magic, and nothing felt off like it had done before Angrboda had attacked._

 _As he shut his book and snuggled down beside his children he supposed that imaginary friends weren't the worst way of coping._

-M-

 _Roughly half a century later found Loki at the market, trading a spell book and five pears for a different spell book. This one was on the power of runes and Loki hoped that with it he would be able to fashion runed amulets that would keep his children safer. They were old enough now that they could be trusted to understand the danger of the situation and do as he said. If he could create amulets that ensured they remained invisible and the children kept silent he would be able to take them to the markets with him without raising suspicion._

 _It took some moments for him to realise that the wrongness he had been feeling was not his anxiety at leaving his children alone, it was his wards falling._

 _Immediately, he teleported back to the cottage, leaving the trader behind mid-sentence._

 _What he found chilled him to his bones._

 _Odin, standing in front of his children, who hung paralysed in mid-air._

" _Let them go!" he ordered, gathering his magic._

 _Odin turned around, his raised eyebrow signifying how unimpressed he was._

 _Suddenly, Loki could feel his magic being ripped from him through the Odinforce. He screamed in agony and, unable to hold himself upright due to the pain, collapsed to the floor. Seconds later the Odinforce retreated and Loki was left groaning, holding his head that seemed to be spinning uncontrollably as he fought desperately against the clutches of sleep. Breathing heavily, he staggered to his feet._

" _I said, let them go,"_

" _You seem to have forgotten your place, Loki,"_

 _Loki's nostrils flared in anger. "I know my place. It is here. Away from you. With my children. Why do you even care so much? All I am is a hindrance to you. Why bother to find me after all this time? And how did you do so?"_

" _I_ don't _care," Odin said sharply. "Frigga does. You should be grateful that I did not tell her what you were. Then perhaps she would have cared to stop searching for you. But no, out of concern for her feelings and you, you ungrateful brat, I did not tell her. I had Heimdall tell me of all the places shrouded from view, and have been working through them. With the combination of my magic and several of Vanaheim's mages your wards and protection spells crumbled very quickly. They were admirable, but largely futile. Perhaps you should have paid more attention in your magic lessons with Angrboda,"_

" _Perhaps you should have given me a better teacher?" Loki replied coolly, looking Odin directly in the eyes steadily, and with more fury that he would ever have dared to before. "And I am_ not _grateful. Tell Frigga for all I care. Tell Thor. Tell the whole of Asgard! Just give me my children back and leave me alone,"_

" _You truly believe that I will give you your children back," Odin laughed darkly. "Oh no, Loki. I promised that if you dared to pass your monstrous heritage onto any offspring again then I would kill them. And kill them I shall."_

 _Loki would have launched himself at Odin, magic or no magic, and despite feeling more unwell than he ever had done in his life due to the loss of it, but for one thing..._

" _Good luck," he said, as carelessly as he could manage. "Hel, my daughter, is the Goddess of Death, and she will not let that happen. She already stopped Fenrir from dying once before when Angrboda slit his throat. You cannot kill them._ And, _if you banish them or keep them locked away they will only hate you. And then,_ then, _you will have a problem, Odin Allfather; you will not be able to keep them locked up forever,"_

 _Loki was fairly sure that the Allfather was looking at him with more fury and vengeance in his eyes than he had ever seen, but Loki didn't care. He would not fail his children, not this time._

"What _did you say about your daughter?"_

 _Loki rolled his eyes dramatically, making sure to emphasise how bored this was making him. Really, his heart was hammering hard in his chest and he wanted nothing more than to flee. The Allfather did not need to know that though._

" _My daughter, Hela, or as she likes to be known for short: Hel, is the Goddess of Death. So good luck trying to kill them. May I have Sleipnir back now?"_

 _For the briefest moment Loki was sure that the Allfather's face was marred with terrible grief and regret before it shifted back into a dreadful rage._

" _You caused this!" he bellowed. "This was all your fault."_

 _Loki wasn't entirely sure what Odin was on about, but considering all the mistakes he had made he guessed that replying with a dry "obviously" was the right move to make._

 _This only seemed to worsen Odin's mood. He stood there, unmoving, in the centre of the room, power rolling off him in waves. Loki resisted the urge to draw back. He would not run from this, he would save his children._

 _He could not, however, stop himself from taking a step backwards when the Allfather's expression suddenly morphed into that of decision._

 _He sent a golden burst of magic at Loki's children, who fell to the floor in a heap, still unconscious._

 _Loki let out a yell of fury and threw himself at the Allfather. Odin, anticipating his, waved his hand and sent Loki flying brutally into the wall._

 _Loki grit his teeth and battled for consciousness. "What have you done to them?" he demanded._

" _Sent them into a version of the Odinsleep," Odin said, smirking. "And in this they will remain, unable to plot revenge against me,"_

 _Loki didn't remember much more than that._

 _He remembered a cold fury, mixed with a small part of him which reminded him that at least they weren't dead, maybe they could be saved._

 _He remembered fighting tooth and nail against Odin. He was barely conscious but his hatred drove him on. He needed to protect his children. He had to._

 _He remembered Odin taking him to a cave and_ _chaining him to a rock with metal links he was sure had once been wolf entrails before Odin had transformed them with the Odinforce. Odin drew strange runes on his arms in what Loki thought was blood, but it seemed to stay there for years to come, so perhaps Odin had done something to it. Loki could feel the moment that the Odinforce granted him his magic again and instinctively he lashed out with it, only to feel an intense agony coursing through his body originating from the runes._

 _He remembered Odin assuring him that this was what he deserved for causing so much trouble for everyone, for making Frigga and Thor worry, for bringing monstrous children into the world and granting them such a miserable existence. Odin reminded him of how generous and forgiving he was being. He could have killed Loki, he could have told everyone that he was a despicable Frost Giant. But no, he was punishing Loki, then giving him another chance. It was the least he deserved._

 _Loki didn't remember much except pain after that. A serpent was placed above him, dripping venom slowly onto his face. It was as much a constant irritant and source of madness as it was agony. As soon as one small burn had almost healed, more acid would fall._

 _In the time between brief sleep due to pure exhaustion and hours awake and in pain, Loki wondered how he was still alive. He supposed that the Allfather's magic must have ensured his survival. Most of the time he spent thinking about how he had got there, what he had done wrong, how he could have been better, and all the people he had failed._

 _The Allfather was right, he did deserve this._

-m-

 _In his haze of pain and exhaustion he was only slightly aware of someone entering the cave and talking to him, of someone untying him and carrying him away. His brain liked to play tricks on him much of the time, to imagine nice things like leaving the cave. It didn't really mean it was happening, but in the fogginess of his mind Loki was glad that he could at least pretend._

-m-

 _Loki awoke to the feeling of warmth on his face. It was soft, and it wasn't hot enough to burn, and this made his mouth quirk involuntarily upwards in a smile. He was surprised to find that it didn't hurt. Usually moving any of his facial muscles hurt as it stretched a part of the skin onto which the snake's venom had fallen. It was strange. Normally all he had to think about was how much pain he was in, how cold, how thirsty, and how much he had failed his children._

 _And he had failed his children, this he knew. He had made a lot of mistakes when figuring out how to be a good parent; mistakes he was sure that normal, good parents didn't make. And he hadn't given them a good life, he'd given them a life of running, of hiding, of danger and death. They would only have spent their lives ostracised by society. Really, Odin had done him a favour putting them into a deep sleep, at least now they wouldn't have to suffer for all the wrongs he had done._

 _And all of that wasn't even mentioning the pain he had caused Frigga by running away and hiding himself. The distress he had brought upon her and Thor due to their misplaced care for him._

 _It was at this point in his repetitive thoughts that Loki realised that he wasn't chained to a rock with transfigured intestines, he was lying somewhere soft… and he could_ move!

 _Experimentally, he lifted an arm and found no resistance except from what he assumed were blankets. What was going on?_

" _Loki?" he heard a familiar voice ask tentatively and his eyes flew open. He tilted his head and could see Frigga standing next to where he lay, looking fraught with worry._

" _Mother!" he cried, and was surprised that no pain came from his miraculously un-dry throat when he spoke. Was this a hallucination? Had he finally gone mad from the pain and the loneliness?_

" _Oh Loki," she sobbed, falling to her knees beside the bed. Loki was still unsure how exactly this was happening. "I thought you dead! How do you fare, are you well?"_

" _I think so…" Loki replied. "What is happening?"_

" _Sigyn, my handmaiden, and I brought you here and Eir healed you. You have been here for almost a week now, I used Sovnig to ensure that you slept and healed during the procedure," Frigga replied, sounding hesitant. "Do you feel well? Any lingering pain? Hunger? Dehydration?"_

" _No," Loki said, his tone surprised. "I am fine,"_

" _Do you remember any of what happened?" Frigga said._

 _Loki shuddered involuntarily. "Some of it. I was chained beneath a snake, I think,"_

" _Do you know who was responsible? I swear Odin will see them brought to justice,"_

 _At her words, Loki took a long time in answering. So, it seemed that Odin did not wish her to know that it was he who had chained Loki there, as just penance for his crimes, and that meant that Frigga still did not know what had passed. "I do not know, bandits, with a vengeance against Asgard, I think,"_

 _Frigga nodded gravely, not seeming to catch the lie._

 _There came an uncomfortable pause, during which Loki studied the arches in the high, stone ceiling, tracing the gold flower patterns with his eyes._

" _You eloped with Angrboda, did you not?" Frigga asked and Loki's eyes widened in panic. "Calm yourself. I will not judge you, goodness knows people do foolish things for love, and you have suffered enough… I just need to know if you are aware of what happened to her,"_

 _At once, panic flared through Loki's brain. He could see Angrboda crumbling to dust on the floor, feel the ghost of Hel's power flowing through his veins, remember the horror and the conflict that he felt when he thought about what he had done._

" _Loki, be calm," Frigga commanded, and at once Loki felt a sense of peace washing through his body. His mother must be using a calming spell, he surmised. "I apologise for bringing it up,"_

" _It is fine," Loki replied stiffly._

" _Heimdall says that she is in Helheim, he told me that He-" Frigga's expression immediately became guarded, and Loki briefly wondered what she had been about to say, but the calm that he felt overrode any curiosity he had. "Although she did not fare well there for a number of years, she has now found peace,"_

 _Loki frowned, though he did regret killing her he wasn't at all sure that he wanted her to find peace._

" _I am very sorry for your loss," Frigga told him. "I hope the time you did have together was filled with happiness, and if you ever need to talk to me about those times, remember that I am here. Sometimes it can be hard to be positive when a loved one dies, but it is what we must do,"_

 _At this, Loki laughed outright, the calming spell rendering him unable to stop himself._

 _When finally he stopped, he looked over to Frigga, who appeared fearful, and Loki contemplated that he had managed to make his mother feel even worse, yet another thing that the monster Loki_ Laufeyson _could do wrong._

" _Loki. I know this is hard for you, but there is another thing I must ask you," Frigga said, trying to soften her expression. Loki nodded, as if to invite her to continue. "Did you have any children with her? I need to know if they must also be rescued,"_

 _Loki found himself unable to speak for a minute. Remembering the last time he had seen his children, remembering everything he had done wrong, remembering what his mother was sure to think if she found out. "No, no children," he lied, unable to keep the sadness out of his voice._

" _I confess that although it is a shame that you did not get to experience the joy of having children with a loved one, it grants me a great relief that you have no children which might be in danger," Frigga replied, sounding lighter. "I have searched for you for almost two hundred years Loki, the only thing keeping me going was the knowledge that you could not be dead. I will admit that when Sigyn, who I sent out to search for you when my duties kept me away, found you in the cave and broke the spells of your captors, I could not quite believe that you were safe, even when I saw you in the healing rooms. Even now, I wonder how you are truly here. I am quite glad that no grandchildren are in danger,"_

 _Briefly, Loki considered telling her. She seemed to care so much, even though any children would have been born out of wedlock, even though Loki had caused her so much strife over the past two centuries. But no, he reminded himself, no one knew Frigga better than Odin, and Odin had been quite clear as to what her reaction would be. Besides, nobody could love monsters. He had been able to love his children as he himself was a monster, but Frigga was good, Frigga was pure, she would never accept them._

 _Instead Loki chose his words carefully to deepen the lie._

" _Angrboda never wanted to have to raise children," he said softly. "She didn't care for them,"_

 _Frigga smiled sadly and stroked his hair out of his face. "They can be quite the handful, can cause you so many problems, but oh my Loki they are worth it,"_

 _Loki smiled weakly in return. He knew exactly what she meant, more than she could ever know._

 _ **So, I hope you all enjoyed that!**_

 _ **After a fairly worried comment on ao3, I just want to reassure everyone that the entrails were not Fenrir's, it was just a nod to the Narfi/Vali myth.**_

 _ **Next up: Thor makes a speech and the fate of the Casket is decided. SHIELD pays a visit to Malibu, wanting to know what Tony and the others are up to.**_

 _ **I expect Odin to wake up the chapter after that ;)**_


	15. SHIELD

_**A/N: I had Loki using magic in the last chapter (clearly, I'm an idiot), that has now been fixed! Sorry to the 30 or so of you that read the original chapter!**_

 _ **Thank you all so much for the reviews (I know I reply to them, but thanks again I guess), follows and favourites! I hope you all enjoy the chapter!**_

 _ **15/04/2018**_

 **Chapter Fifteen - SHIELD**

"My people," Thor announced. "It is time for change,

"For too long have we oppressed the people of Jotunheim, for too long have we allowed their world to stagnate and crumble,"

Thor paused and steadied himself, doing his best to ignore the growing murmurs and the faces of the people which ranged from perturbed to furious.

"It is time we faced the truth of our actions.

"We like to pretend that the Jotuns' attack of Midgard was unprovoked, that we saved the Midgardians from a savage and brutal people. Cast your minds back, many of you are old enough to know this not to be true...

"The Allfather had arranged a trade agreement between Asgard, Alfheim, Vanaheim, Nidavellir and Jotunheim. Laufey did not feel that this deal was right for his people, so he refused. This decision caused rumour to run amok across the realms, many people believed that Jotunheim had resources that they were refusing to share, that refusing the deal was selfish. How true these rumours were will never be known. But the other realms knew the power of the Casket, it has always been feared, and these rumours led to hysteria that threatened to destabilise several of the realms.

"To calm the people, and to try to control the situation, Asgard proposed a trade ban between Jotunheim and the other realms involved in the treaty. Laufey, desperate due to the lack of animals to hunt for food that year, claimed that Jotunheim was in need of more space and resources and if Asgard and the other realms were too selfish to share, then the Jotuns would have to take what they needed themselves,"

Thor studied the crowd again. The people still looked confused, some of them downright murderous, but others were nodding in agreement, clearly remembering the story he told.

"And so they invaded Midgard. The Midgardians were uncivilised and fragmented and lacked the resources to defend themselves. It was a cowardly attack on the weakest people of the Nine Realms and Asgard rightfully intervened. As reparations the Casket was taken, and the trade ban continued, and everyone felt safe because the Casket no longer could potentially be used to harm us, and we no longer had to deal with beings who might burn us with a single touch.

"Jotunheim was clearly wrong to attack Midgard, it was truly dishonourable, but they attacked for a reason and we cannot ignore the part that Asgard played in driving them to such extremes.

"By now I expect you all know that my coronation was interrupted by a small band of Frost Giants attempting to steal the Casket of Ancient Winters." At this statement, fresh mumbling broke out. "I was one of the few that travelled to Jotunheim, seeking retribution for the crimes of a few, doomed to fail. What I found there appalled me. From what I have witnessed they have suffered enough,"

The crowd was angry now, and several people started to yell in protest. The shout of "Laufey has bewitched him," rang out the loudest, and Thor suppressed a wince.

"Their world is crumbling, their buildings fall apart. Heimdall estimates that only a few thousand of their population remain. They have not the power to run the infrastructure that they need to survive. Killing a people slowly and at a distance is _not honourable,_

"We claim that Asgard is glorious, well it takes bravery to face your mistakes and put them right. Jotunheim has suffered enough. Queen Frigga and I will not be held responsible for the cowardly extermination of a people, particularly due to the role we played in the events beforehand.

"We will not be pray to our fears once more, we will not allow our fear of Jotunheim to cloud our minds to what is right, and to what is honourable

Thor could still see one or two angry faces, but he felt encouraged by many Asgardians who now seemed to be looking at him more positively, more determinedly, with fresh understanding on their faces. Thor just hoped this speech would be enough to prevent an uprising. He had practiced it many times over the past few days with his mother, and he did not think he had forgotten anything important.

"That is why the Queen and I have taken the decision to hand the Casket back to Jotunheim. We hope that with this gesture Jotunheim can rebuild, and new bonds will be forged between our two realms. The path to peace and a strong relationship will not be easy, but a warrior who gives up without struggling for his goal is not a true warrior, and we will prove to the other realms that we are not afraid, that we have honour.

"Let this decision mark a new beginning in Asgard's history. Let us do what is right,"

And with that, Thor smiled and nodded to his people, before leaving the balcony sedately to thunderous applause.

"Well, that went well," Frigga smiled, looking relieved.

"Indeed," Thor replied. "Unfortunately, we do not yet know how many will oppose this, I know that I did not convince everyone in that crowd. Some remain hostile and they have the power to sway those who doubt our decision,"

"Fear not, Thor," Fandral said, clapping him on the shoulder and grinning. "Asgard's people have always been loyal to the crown,"

"We are not Odin, and the people know not his views on the matter," Hogun said quietly.

Thor grimaced. "We just have to hope that they will believe he would agree,"

"They won't," Sif said, and just for once Thor wished that she didn't have the practice of brutal honesty.

"Come now," Frigga interrupted, her voice calm. "The speech went well, and many who agree with the decision will also spread the news, we must celebrate the small victories. But Thor, I must speak to you in private, we need to discuss the removal and transportation of the Casket,"

Thor nodded. "I will see you later, my friends. We shall drink to our success this evening!"

-M-

Thor frowned as his mother cast a spell to hide them from Heimdall's sight. She might not have told him what it was, but Loki had cast it enough times in Thor's presence for him to be able to recognise it. Why the secrecy? What did his mother know that she would not trust Heimdall with?

He opened his mouth to ask what Frigga was doing when she spoke, "Thor, though we do need to speak of moving the Casket I find myself in need of your help in other matters,"

Thor frowned. "Matters that we cannot trust Heimdall with?"

His mother shot him a questioning glance. "Yes," she said, her tone serious. "This is about Loki and it is imperative that you do not let the information I am going to tell you leave this room,"

"Are we to find a way to end his banishment?"

Frigga shook his head. "I fear that it is not safe for him here,"

Thor felt his temper spike. _Not safe?_ He would never let his little brother come to harm, especially not on Asgard. However, he knew that it was his temper that had got Loki unjustly banished to Midgard, so he took calming breaths, trying to control himself.

"Some days ago you expressed concern over your fathers words to Loki on the bridge," Frigga said, looking at his seriously. Thor could see her twisting her fingers nervously in her lap, clearly, what she had to say was important. "I have recently discovered that your father did not treat Loki well. I shall not go into detail but I spoke with Loki almost a week ago now, and he told me that he has children,"

"What!" Thor exclaimed. How _dare_ his brother keep this from him. This was not the sort of thing one kept to oneself. Thor had nieces or nephews and he didn't even know? He raged at the injustice of it. Why would Loki keep this to himself? _How_ did Loki keep this to himself?

"It seems that these children were incredibly gifted shape-shifters and due to his misinterpretation of a prophecy Odin believed them to be dangerous. He has stolen them all away from your brother, and has hidden three of them with some very advanced spells. As a result, I am unable to find them. Only one I know the location of; Sleipnir he has trapped in the form of a horse,"

Thor blinked. Odin's prized steed… was Loki's son.

Perhaps now was not a bad time to start doubting his mother's sanity.

"Mother," Thor said, as gently as he could manage. "What you told me of our war against Jotunheim made sense, but you cannot expect me to believe this,"

Thor watched Frigga as she closed her eyes and her jaw tensed, it was very clear she felt under a lot of pressure.

"Do you remember when Loki disappeared for over a hundred years?"

Thor nodded, he had spent much of the start of that time questing with Sif and the Warriors Three to look for his brother. After a time he had given up; there was only so long he could search for his brother without going mad from frustration.

"He has not told me as much, but I believe this point was when he had triplets, presumably with his magic tutor, Angrboda,"

Thor shook his head. "This is too much. Perhaps I can believe that Loki had children with Angrboda, but why would Odin hide them away? Surely he is too wise to misunderstand a prophecy? And Sleipnir, how can he be Loki's son?"

Frigga sighed. "I expected this to be too much for you to accept. I do not ask for you to believe me immediately Thor. But I do ask that you go to the stables and talk with Sleipnir. He cannot answer you, but you will see that he understands,"

Thor nodded tersely, before standing up and detaching Mjolnir from his belt. "I request some time to clear my head,"

"Of course," Frigga replied, and Thor made his was as quickly as possible out the window and into the sky. He was perhaps fleeing the situation like a coward, but Thor didn't care.

In the distance, thunder rumbled ominously.

-M-

It was a late Saturday morning, a week and a half after Loki had fallen to Midgard. Loki felt relaxed and contented as he sat on the sofa in between Tony and Darcy, the sun shining on his shoulders. Tony had finally got his wish and 'I, Robot' was playing on the TV screen. Loki had to admit he enjoyed it, the plot was intriguing, and unlike 'Harry Potter', there didn't seem to be any bewildering moral messages.

Loki, whose head had come to rest on Tony's shoulder (he had taken a risk, but, luckily, Tony didn't seem to mind – Loki thought he had even glimpsed Tony smiling out of the corner of his eye), was watching Detective Spooner fight a large amount of robots in a tunnel when the image on the screen froze abruptly.

"Sir, SHIELD seems to be requesting access to the mansion. I am unsure if they mean to disable me like last time or what their intentions are,"

"Shit," Tony exclaimed, leaping to his feet then throwing an apologetic glance at Loki, whose head had been roughly shoved off Tony's shoulders by the sudden movement. "Do you think they know about Loki? What about our research? Jarvis, make sure everything is on a secure server, leave only harmless information about some atmospheric disturbances,"

"I could try hacking into their systems again?" Jarvis suggested. "...all your data has now been saved in external databases. If I am compromised it will take SHIELD a while to find it,"

"SHIELD can hack Jarvis?" Jane said, looking very alarmed.

"I thought you said we'd be safe from them here?" Erik accused, and Loki could see Stark clenching his jaw, as if preparing for a fight.

Loki couldn't blame them, he was also very afraid, who knew what this SHIELD would do to him if they found out he was from Asgard? Or worse, from Jotunheim?

"And you will be. I'll make them back off, like I said,"

"How?" Darcy demanded. "I thought Jarvis was meant to protect us from the Men in Black, but you conveniently forgot to mention that they've taken him down before!"

"Sir, if I might, Agent Coulson is still outside with a number of Agents, it would not do to keep them waiting,"

"Yeah J, I got this," Tony said, in what Loki thought was obviously feigned nonchalance. "I will handle this, I promise," he said seriously to the others and then sauntered over to the door.

"Agent!" Loki could hear Tony saying. "I wasn't expecting to see you so soon after Romanoff said I wasn't recommended for the Avengers. If you've changed your mind, sorry to disappoint, but I'm still not interested, and you still can't afford me,"

"Actually, Stark, this is about a potential global threat-"

"I thought you said this _wasn't_ about your super secret boyband,"

"- and we would like to speak to your house guests," Coulson finished, ignoring the interruption.

"You have no right to enter my property without a search warrant. Do you have one of those? Didn't think so,"

"Mr Stark, according to an agreement between the UN and the Word Security Council, SHIELD Agents with clearance of Level 3 and above don't need search warrants to enter a property,"

The voice in Loki's head that screamed at him to run began screaming louder as he shared nervous glances with the others. But there was one thing he knew, running and hiding only made you look guilty. If he were going to properly escape the situation unscathed he would have to face SHIELD calmly and head on.

"Bullshit," Tony declared, but Coulson must have shown him something to the contrary as a few moments later Tony said. "Oh, okay, I was wrong. I guess you can come on in, but I'm warning you, mess with me, or my guests, and you will meet Iron Man,"

"Seems reasonable," Coulson replied and Loki heard the sound of footsteps approaching the room.

Loki stood up as Tony, the man who he assumed was Agent Coulson, and six men dressed in black entered the room.

"Miss Lewis, Dr Selvig, Dr Foster," Coulson said, nodding at each of them in turn. "I'm Agent Coulson with the Strategic Homeland Investigation Enforcement and Logistics Division. We're here to ask you all some questions. If I may have a moment with your associate…"

"You may not," Jane said. "He hasn't done anything,"

"It is fine," Loki said calmly, walking over to Coulson. Tony was right, after all, SHIELD did still need to get past his Iron Man suits. Briefly, Loki wondered when he had grown to trust Tony so much. "I will speak with him,"

"Great," Coulson said, shaking his hand. Loki did his best not to look confused, hoping this was a normal Midgardian greeting. "I'm Agent Phil Coulson, and you are?"

Loki, who had grown somewhat more familiar with Midgardian naming customs over the past week and a half didn't hesitate.

"Luke Skywalker," he replied. Loki seemed close enough to Luke, and several sorcerers had nicknamed him 'Sky Walker' due to his more powerful than usual teleportation abilities. It should be an easy enough name to remember. Loki ignored Tony and Darcy who seemed to be overcome by a powerful fit of laughter behind him; it likely had nothing to do with him.

"It's a pleasure to meet a member of the Skywalker family," Agent Coulson replied pleasantly. "Your father, Anakin, was a terrific pilot, and I've heard some good things about his help in the Clone Wars,"

"Yes, he was truly excellent at flying," Loki agreed, not missing a beat.

"It's a pity he slaughtered all those younglings at the temple and then became a Sith Lord," Coulson said, the corners of his mouth twitching.

"I'm… sorry?" Loki said, now feeling much more unsure about his chosen name. Clearly, he should have denied relations to this Anakin.

"Your father, Darth Vader," Coulson prompted.

"Yes…" Loki said. "I may have lied about my familial relations,"

"You may have lied about everything," Coulson replied, his tone still relaxed. "Now, if you could tell us your real name?"

"Loki Odinson," he said after a pause, hoping he had made the right choice to tell the truth this time, instead of trying to come up with another name.

"Mr Odinson, where are you from?"

"England," Loki replied, the pause during which he searched for the information about what his accent sounded like was too long to be natural, but he said it with enough certainty that he hoped it made up for it.

"Where in England?" Coulson asked, and his continually calm tone was beginning to grate on Loki's nerves. It was though, at this point, that Loki realised he didn't have nearly enough information to be able to pull of this deception. He should have run. Loki wished vainly that he had his magic so that he could teleport away.

"You see, Mr Odinson, SHIELD is trying to work out if you're a threat. Our data leads us to believe that you're not from this world. It's taken us a long time to put all the pieces together, but we've traced you from the atmospheric disturbance to the hospital and back to Dr Foster's house. And then, out of nowhere, after hacking our databases for information on alien lifeforms, Mr Stark decides to invite you all to live in his mansion. We all thought he had too many trust issues for that. Furthermore, your answers here clearly indicate an unfamiliarity with Earth culture. So the question is, what are you doing here?"

"Cut the crap, Coulson," Tony laughed drily. Loki was grateful for his support, even if it were fairly obvious that the game was up. "We both know there's no such thing as aliens,"

"Then why the sudden house guests?"

"Well, you know dying, puts everything into perspective," _Dying?_ Loki thought frantically, but pushed the thought to the side. Whether or not his most trusted friend was dying was of no consequence right now. "Decided I needed to work with some of the leading scientists of our day, didn't want to leave behind a bad legacy,"

"So what are you working on with two astrophysicists?"

"Long distance space travel in the Iron Man suit." Tony replied, not missing a beat. "Just think of the possibilities Coulson, think about what we could find in the universe. What if we had real life people, not just drones, on Mars at the moment?"

Even though Loki knew that Tony was fighting a losing battle, Loki thought that at that moment he looked beautiful. His mind was clearly moving quickly, and Loki was entranced by him as he spun the tale, making wild gestures with his arms as if to illustrate his points.

Loki bit the inside of his cheek, hoping the pain would distract him from his thoughts. He had been unusually bad at hiding his emotions recently and what if someone looked at him and realised what he was thinking? Everything would be fine as long as Tony didn't know that Loki had those kind of unnatural feelings for him. The good thing about living on Midgard, or maybe just with Tony, was that these things could apparently be joked about. Loki hoped that if Stark ever accused him of anything Loki could just pretend he was joking too.

"Except they don't focus on the areas you want,"

"We wanted to start off small, think about the viability of such a project," Jane said.

Coulson was, however, clearly not going to be convinced, and the evidence was not in Loki's favour. Loki decided that he just needed to get to the point.

"My king banished me here. I am mortal, as you are, and I mean your realm no harm,"

Coulson raised an eyebrow.

"Do you have any way of proving that? And what were you banished for? SHIELD won't like the idea of housing an alien criminal on Earth,"

"Stupid reasons, his dad's messed up," Tony said, and Loki was glad of the defence, even if it wasn't a very good one.

"I am helping to build something that my people know as the Bifrost, which is how I travelled here," Loki said, hoping the others wouldn't hate him too much for giving their project away. "We are hoping to give this planet access to deep space travel,"

"And how do we know that you're building what you say you are,"

"Because I'm a genius," Tony snapped. "And I'm not about to let an alien waltz in and destroy the planet,"

-M-

When, eventually, the conversation drew to a close and SHIELD left, they were all exhausted.

"Jarvis, just order us a takeaway. I don't care what," Tony said, from where he was slumped on the sofa, nursing a bottle of scotch.

"That could have gone worse," Erik said, and Loki couldn't help but agree. SHIELD had agreed to leave him alone for the moment, as long as they were able to meet with him twice a week to discuss all he knew about the other realms and share information about science under what was apparently nicknamed a 'lie detector'.

Loki was not especially pleased with the situation, especially as he knew the Allfather would be furious with him for sharing such information with mortals when he woke. However, it was certainly better than remaining in their custody for an indefinite period and having to submit to testing. Coulson had tried for a while to get him to hand over blood samples. Tony was, thankfully, adamant that Loki was not a lab rat and if SHIELD wanted to create more supersoldiers (whatever they were) through Loki they could think again. Coulson had eventually given in, much to Loki's relief as he knew some very dangerous spells that could be cast through blood, so giving his up was definitely not in his best interest.

The day ended as it had begun, with all of them on the sofa, watching 'I, Robot'. The sun had set and was no longer warming Loki's shoulders, but he supposed the delicious taste of Chinese made up for that (Loki thought that of all the foods the mortals had introduced him to, that had to be his favourite).

It was a mark of how much he trusted them all when after he had finished all his food he settled down on Tony's shoulder and drifted off to sleep.

-M-

"My mother told me I was to talk to you," Thor told Sleipnir, feeling somewhat ridiculous. The past few hours of flying through storms had helped him clear his head though, and he supposed there was no harm in trying. Sleipnir seemed to look at him with interest. "She says you are Loki's son,"

Thor blinked in surprise. The horse was… nodding. _What?_ Thor surmised that it was probably a coincidence. It would be stupid not to try again though…

"Did Odin trap you like this?"

Again, the horse nodded. Though this time it was accompanied by an angry clattering of Sleipnir's hooves.

"Oh…" Thor stumbled for words. Surely this could not be happening, and yet… "In which case you might be pleased to know that the Allfather has fallen into the Odinsleep,"

At his words, Sleipnir immediately seemed to perk up. Thor had been around horses for more than enough time to know when one was happy.

"Loki has been banished though," Thor said apologetically, and Sleipnir looked at him mournfully, nodding again.

Well. This did not bode well.

 ** _I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!_**

 ** _Next up: We time jump almost a month._**

 ** _\- Something happens on Midgard, probably the start of Tony/Loki and a bit of info about SHIELD (this is the last filler-y bit - everything afterwards I have planned out)._**  
 ** _\- Odin wakes up. Everyone beware._**


	16. Awake

_**A/N: Finally, we have frostiron. Yay!**_

 _ **Thank you all so much for the reviews, favourites and follows, you are all wonderful people :) I hope you all enjoy the chapter!**_

 _ **22/04/2018**_

 **Chapter Sixteen - Awake**

"No, you need to flick your wrist a bit more like this," Loki said, and threw another knife into the target.

Darcy copied him. Although the knife hit closer than before it still wasn't anywhere near the centre of the target.

She sighed.

"That was good," Loki said with a smile and Darcy grinned back, trying not to feel too disheartened, because hey, it was closer than it had been! He collected the knives (apparently Stark Industries had created high-quality throwing knives as part of their past weapons manufacturing, much to Loki's delight) and handed them back to her.

Darcy thought back to the time that Loki had stormed into the mansion a few weeks ago, clearly furious about something that had happened with SHIELD, and declared that it was high time he actually taught her to throw knives (apparently he had been planning to do so since she had tried to defend herself with one when Frigga had appeared in the kitchen for the first time).

Just as Darcy was preparing to throw another knife at the target, Tony strolled into the room. "So, movie night?" he asked.

"Star Wars?" Loki suggested brightly.

"Don't see why not," Tony shrugged. "But Jarvis said we have to bring Dum-E and U with us, apparently they have some kind of crush on R2D2,"

Darcy made a face and brushed aside this somewhat alarming piece of news. "Well, I mean, this would be our third time of watching it," Darcy pointed out. Though it was delightful to see how much Loki loved Star Wars, she did have her limits.

Actually, she was surprised that Loki did like Star Wars so much. The first time Tony and Loki had sat down to watch it she had walked in on Loki having a panic attack due to the 'I am your father line' – apparently he could empathise too well with the emotional trauma of finding out your father was evil and that you weren't who you thought you were. Tony hadn't been faring much better; whilst Loki had been clinging to him and shaking, Tony had frozen and turned as white as a sheet, his breath coming in shallow gasps. It turned out that Tony, who had already been sort of freaked out due to Loki's breakdown, had been thrown into a flashback when Loki had gripped the reactor through Tony's tee shirt in his panic.

Apparently, Obadiah Stane, a mentor and father figure to Tony, had paralysed him and ripped the arc reactor out of his chest, leaving him alone to die slowly and painfully.

Which was _great._

It was interesting to learn about how Obadiah had actually died, and Darcy was glad that he had, even if Tony said he still sometimes hated himself for 'Obie's' death.

Actually, now she thought about it, Tony was kind of a wreck, he had only recently started trusting her enough to let her hand him things.

She supposed that was why Tony and Loki were good for each other, they were both messed up geniuses.

Darcy was happy how invested Loki was in Luke Skywalker's arc now. Loki had been very vague about it, but it seemed he liked that just because someone's father was a monster, didn't mean they had to be, and that even a monster could be redeemed.

"My mother should be visiting again tomorrow," Loki informed them as they relocated to the couch, food that Erik and Jane had cooked spread out on the table. "I hope that she and Thor have got further in their quest for information on breaking the curses,"

"Cool, I'm sure they will have done," Tony said. "Do you think she'll put up any more wards around the kid's bedrooms?"

"I think so yes, she has been hoping to find ancient ones that even the Odinforce would find difficult to break," Loki replied, leaning into Tony on the couch while Darcy rolled her eyes.

They were so hopelessly gone for each other and they couldn't even admit it. It was very clear from the smiles and the touches and the way that they had sat for hours, heads pressed together over a tablet, discussing design ideas to ensure the children's rooms were perfect. The problem was, she wasn't sure Loki realised he was in love with Tony, and Tony cared too much for Loki to do anything that would make him too uncomfortable and ruin what they had.

She sighed and dug into her pasta as the movie began.

She had to admit though, Star Wars was good every time.

-M-

Loki felt a thrill of excitement as Tony swung an arm around his shoulders and leaned over to see Loki's data.

"We are actually going to be able to do this aren't we?" Tony grinned and Loki laughed.

"Yes, I think so,"

"Awesome!" Tony said and Loki almost reached out a hand to stop him pulling his arm away.

It sometimes worried Loki how much he needed Tony's touches. It was almost like he was with Angrboda again, but at the same time it wasn't the same at all; Tony gave freely, but was clear from spending time with him that he expected nothing in return.

Loki fiddled nervously with the highest button that he'd done up on his dark green shirt (and wasn't Jarvis wonderful at ordering clothes, everything fit fantastically well!), before looking though the hologram and seeing Tony in front of him, staring at the bare skin above Loki's hand with a badly hidden expression of what Loki could only think to be an intense need.

"Tony?" he questioned, and Tony swallowed and looked up at his eyes.

"I was just, oh shit, sorry, I was just, um y'know, thinking,"

"What about?"

"Just, the E-R Bridge and stuff," he replied, looking flustered.

Loki briefly wondered if Tony had been looking at him the way he looked at Tony, but he dismissed the thought. Tony was good, he wasn't a monster (though perhaps monster was too strong a term for himself after all), he wouldn't have shameful desires about a skinny (okay, a lot less thin than he had been) and ugly looking (that was undeniable) man such as himself.

"No, actually Lokes, I uh… no, forget it, I'm just…argh!" Tony rubbed his face in frustration.

"It is fine, you were merely lost in thought, I know I am not much to look at and you weren't thinking anything shameful about…" Loki said calmly, hoping to reassure him.

"Shameful, what?" Tony spluttered. "What do you mean? You think being into guys is shameful?"

Loki cringed. "Well, yes, of course it is, everyone knows!"

"Well, fuck everyone!" Tony exclaimed and Loki drew back slightly on instinct. "Oh, no, Loki, I'm sorry, I just, damn Ass-gard is just so messed up! It's totally fine to like anyone: men, women, gender non-conforming etc., like ugh, every time I think I've heard everything that Asgard could possibly have done wrong, bam! Seriously Loki, what kind of bullshit do you mean 'not much to look at' you're gorgeous,"

"You…mean that?" Loki gasped.

"Well, yeah, I mean sorry if I make you uncomfortable, but I have slept with a lot of people, including men, I swing both ways, but you? I've gone down with supermodels but then when I look in your eyes and…oh god, I'll just stop talking, I'm making this worse, right? I should stop, oh, you'll never want to see me again, and I…"

"Tony stop!" Loki ordered. "This, I, all those things you have said since we first met, they were not in jest?"

Tony shook his head and Loki's eyes widened further. This, this was too good to believe, and yet…

"And if you prefer men you are accepted on Midgard?"

"Yeah," Tony said. "I mean, they'll always be a few dicks, but generally people are pretty chill,"

"That's good," Loki said, desperately trying to keep his voice from shaking. "Because, I think that I like you, in that way, too,"

"Good," Tony said, nodding and looking shocked. "That's good,"

They stared at each other for a few moments before Tony suddenly surged through the hologram and into Loki's personal space. Not that Loki minded when it was Tony who was invading his space.

"Is it alright if I kiss you now?" he asked. "Only, I've been thinking about it for weeks and…"

Loki responded by leaning down slightly and pressing his mouth against Tony's, resting his arms on his shoulders and pulling him closer. And oh it was good, far better than he had imagined, and he had been trying not to imagine it since the first day that they had met.

The closeness sent thrills through his body and Loki felt relaxed and happy. This was nothing like it had been with Angrboda. Here he felt safe and loved and here he could actually be with someone he was attracted to.

At that moment, Loki was certain that being banished was one of the best things that had ever happened to him. If he hadn't, where else could he have met someone as strange and as wonderful as Tony Stark?

-M-

Thor sat in an ornate chair next to his mother, who had arranged herself so she appeared to be relaxing elegantly on Hlidskjalf. Thor sighed in contentment; the realm was at peace, the few who had actively opposed their handing over of the Casket and the new treaty with Jotunheim had been arrested, and the handover of the Casket had gone off without a hitch over three weeks ago. They had just finished seeing their last petitioner of the day (a representative of a body of farmers who wished to know if, that with Odin still asleep, there was any chance of them getting even a fraction of the aid for apprenticeships that the swordsmiths got. Frigga and Thor had decided that as it was a time of peace there was no reason why they shouldn't distribute the money more equally.) Thor was just considering taking Sleipnir to visit the field his goat's descendants lived in for some uncle-nephew bonding time when the door to the Throne Room crashed open.

Odin strode in followed by six Einherjar, and Thor would have been glad to see how much energy he had if he couldn't feel the fury radiating off him. Odin stretched out a hand and immediately Gungnir flew across the room to him.

"Guards," he said stonily, his gaze on Frigga. "Do as I instructed and arrest the traitor,"

 _What?_ He knew Odin would likely not have agreed with their decision, but he hadn't expected him to go this far!

"I would not to this, not if I were you," Frigga said quietly, and it bothered Thor how calm she looked, holding her wrists out so they could be bound with magic suppressing cuffs. He wanted to do something, to make this stop, but he felt as helpless to stop this as he had been on the bridge. No one could fight the Odinforce when Odin was at full strength, and even with the recent uncomfortable revelations Thor wasn't sure he wanted to harm his father. "You do not have to arrest me. Issue a proclamation agreeing with my actions and you will go down in sagas as the king who put an end to the thousand-year feud with Jotunheim. Arrest me and face the shame of having a Queen who you could not trust to obey your wishes and carry out your commands,"

" _But_ , I will be known as someone who removed threats from Asgard for the greater good, no matter their relation to me,"

Thor watched as a guard clamped the cuffs around Frigga's writs and he could bear it no longer. "You cannot do this, my mother has done no wrong," he warned, taking a step towards the guard.

"Thor do not do anything rash," Frigga said, giving him a small smile.

Thor clenched his fists and thought about Jotunheim. He had learnt from there, he had learnt that sometimes you fought an enemy that was too big for you and you only made things worse. But he couldn't watch this, he felt terrified and helpless and… Thor suddenly looked down at himself in shock. He could have sworn that he felt electricity starting to surge through him. But he didn't have Mjolnir, he'd taken to leaving it in his room of late (the speech being the exception as the people had needed to see him with it), feeling unworthy to hold the weapon that had banished his brother. So, what had just happened?

"You say she has done no wrong, yet she has given the Frost Giants back their Casket, she threatens the peace and stability of the realm, she constantly cloaks you from my view!" At this point Thor felt briefly grateful that Odin couldn't know how much time he had been spending with Sleipnir (still, regrettably, a horse), with his goats, and with countless magic books in the hope of finding something that would break the spell on Sleipnir without the use of Odin's magic. "I cannot allow people who would plot against me to roam free. And Frigga, though I could not see what you were doing with Loki I could guess! How dare you threaten everything that I have worked for, I will not allow my kingdom to be toppled by my _wife_ , not after everything! The worst offence of all, Thor, is that she did not even do these things legally. No, she ignored the line of succession and took the Throne from you. And what has she done to you to convince you of the justification of her actions?"

"What?" Thor asked, feeling that complete confusion was going to be a theme. Odin did not elaborate, choosing instead to look triumphantly at Frigga. Thor took a deep breath. He had forgiven Loki from stopping him from taking the throne because he had not been ready, Thor could appreciate this now, so he should not judge his mother from doing the same.

"Frigga," Odin said icily, starting to walk towards them both. "I-"

"No." Thor said. "Father it is of no issue, we now have peace with the Frost Giants, there is hope for a future in which both of our peoples can prosper and let go of the past. I care not that mother took the Throne from me, there are many things that I did not understand then and I would only have brought harm on the realm in my confusion,"

Odin turned to Thor, eyes blazing with fury, Thor stared straight back at him, his face set, before Odin abruptly swung back towards Frigga.

"You have allowed the Frost Giant brat to manipulate you and you have dragged my son into it! What have you done to him that he would side with you after everything?" he demanded, tone laced with venom, and if Thor had thought that his father had been angry when he had stormed into the room that was nothing on this. "I should never have brought Loki to you!"

"Well," Frigga said, and smiled mock-ruefully. "I suppose that listening to the prophecy and killing our second born was your fault, yes,"

"Loki…is _dead_ …" Thor gasped, his legs threatening to give way underneath him, the feeling of electricity simmering in his veins.

"No, Thor, Loki is fine," his mother replied, clearly trying to be soothing, but her voice was too bitter to be so. "I had a child before Loki, which he so _helpfully_ murdered at less than a day old,"

Thor stood frozen in shock, unsure whether to be grateful that Loki was alive or horrified at the fact that he'd been meant to have another sibling… that Odin, who seemed currently to be shaking with rage, had murdered. In that moment it became clear to Thor that there was nothing that his father was incapable of if he deemed it necessary. Would he kill Loki if he felt that's what he had to do? Probably. Would he kill Thor?

"Do not test my patience, woman," Odin snapped, now standing immediately in front of her. Thor was fairly certain he would have backed away the Odinforce felt so aggressive, his reputation as a warrior be damned, but his mother just glared at Odin. And if Thor had been shocked to see his father look so furious that was nothing to how he felt when he saw the look of hatred on his mother's face.

"Why?" Frigga spat. "Did you not want the guards to know about your delusion induced infanticide?"

Thor was so busy looking at the guards who were barely managing to hide looks of horror that he almost missed his father's hand swinging though the air.

"Father!" Thor cried out in alarm and Odin seemed to abruptly realise where he was.

"Yes, you wouldn't want to add striking your wife onto your list of crimes," his mother said drily, and Thor would have thought her unbothered by Odin if he hadn't seen her flinch away from the attempted hit a second ago.

"There is no crime against it on Asgard," Odin told her. "As you discovered on your arrival. I merely did not make a habit of it as you did not make a habit of betraying me. Now though-"

"Father, how _dare_ you say such things!" Thor screamed at him in a tone entirely disproportionate to the distance he stood away from his father. He was fairly sure a spark came from his finger, but he no longer cared why Mjolnir's powers seemed to be transferring themselves into him.

"Hold your tongue Thor," Odin exploded. "And be grateful I do not arrest you too!"

Thor openly gaped at him. How was this his father? How had he not seen this?

"I will not," Thor gritted out.

"Thor, do as he says," Frigga said quietly and Thor stared at her in exasperation. "There are people who need you,"

Thor gaped at her. Of course, she was right, if they were going to preserve peace with the Jotuns and rescue Loki's children at least one of them needed to be out of prison, but still, did she think he could just stand there?

"You will be locked away in Asgard's dungeons until I have sorted out the mess of your betrayal." Odin promised Frigga, pulling her closer to him with the chain that joined the two cuffs. "I will take back the Casket from the Frost Giants by force and they will suffer for presuming it could ever be returned to them. And heed my words Loki will pay dearly for this deception,"

 _You can't stop this from the dungeons, you can't stop this from the dungeons,_ Thor repeated, taking deep breaths.

"And what of your own deception?" Frigga snapped. "'I am sure he is fine, my wife, he is just a growing boy too intelligent for his own good who prefers his own company, he will grow out of it in time, let him have this time to himself before he must take up royal duties and never get a moment's peace!' I let you hurt him and I did nothing! I knew nothing!"

"I should have let the Frost Giant brat die when I had the chance. Never have I understood why you care so, he is a monster Frigga, can you not see?"

"Frost Giant brat?" Thor questioned, feeling bewildered.

"Thor, it would take too long to explain, do not concern yourself," Frigga said, looking slightly fearful for the first time since Odin had come storming in.

Odin looked like a hunter who would finally catch his prey. "Oh, but it _does_ concern you," he said lightly, and Thor was certain that his mother was ready to murder his father. "For a thousand years your brother has hidden his true form. He is a Frost Giant,"

"You mean _you_ hid his true form. He has grown up here, he is of Asgard!" Frigga protested, but Thor barely heard her, only just paying enough attention to be vaguely alarmed by Odin letting go of the chains binding his mother's hands together and shoving her forcefully backwards by her wrists.

"You are not making it easier for yourself," Odin warned as Frigga stumbled, but just managed to keep her balance.

"I care not for myself," Frigga told him. "I mean to give you a piece of my mind while I still have the chance."

"You jest," Thor said suddenly. After everything else this was just ridiculous! Loki was not a Frost Giant. Loki was Loki.

"Not at all," Odin smiled. "Your so-called brother is really an unruly Frost Giant runt, Laufey's son,"

 _Are they your people?_ Odin had asked on the bridge, and Thor caught the double meaning now.

"Thor, he is your brother by bond, not matter the blood, you grew up together, you-"

Thor's eyes widened as his mother looked horrified, moving her mouth but no sounds coming out.

"I wish I had remembered I could do that earlier," Odin pushed Frigga roughly into the hold of the nearest guard, then turned to Thor, before stating coldly. "You know he let the Frost Giants in. He cares more about them than you or Asgard,"

And with that Odin swept from the room. The guards followed, looking worried and escorting Frigga behind him. Before they reached the door, Frigga turned her head and mouthed something at him, but Thor couldn't make out what it was.

As the golden doors clanged shut behind them Thor sunk to the ground, small bursts of light flickering from his fingers.

He had no idea what to do. His mother was powerless to do anything and Odin was back on the Throne. He would harm Loki and destroy everything they had tried to build with Jotunheim. Thor couldn't let this happen, but what could he do. And Loki? A _Frost Giant_?

But did that matter? They had played together, fought together. Frigga had shown him that his opinion of Frost Giants was wrong. And, if Loki was one, well then what Odin said had to be wrong didn't it?

But who could Thor turn to for help? Would anyone dare to go against Odin? Sif and the Warriors Three definitely, but that was not enough to save Loki and Jotunheim. The guards had looked conflicted though... It was then Thor realised that his mother's defiance had also served another purpose. The Einherjar would know what Odin had done and word would spread. Would everyone continue to support Odin then? Thor groaned, only time would tell.

But time was what he did not have.

What would Loki want him to do?

Thor frowned. Loki would want him to continue his mother's promise and save his children.

Thor sighed. There was only one avenue he had not tried in his search for Hela, Fenrir and Jormungandr. But time was short.

What did he have to lose?

 _A lot, actually,_ he reminded himself, but pushed the thought aside.

Thor clambered back to his feet and headed back to his chambers to fetch Mjolnir. Worthy or not he preferred it when it was Mjolnir that had lightening powers, as he could control those, and surely with renewed contact everything would return to normal and he would stop emitting sparks?

He would not fail Sleipnir and his siblings, not while he yet lived.

 _ **So, I hope you all enjoyed that :)**_

 _ **This is the last chapter I am posting before Infinity War comes out (it comes out earlier in the UK so I'll see it at 00.05am on the 26th - argh!). Whatever happens to Loki/Tony/Thor (I don't think we'll see the others) I am invested in this fic and I promise that I will continue.**_

 _ **Next up: Odin takes a visit to earth. Loki is terrified, everyone else is furious.**_

 _ **Thor makes a last effort to rescue Loki's children while Odin is distracted on Midgard.**_


	17. Discovery

**_A/N: If Heimdall seems kinda ooc, rest assured he does to me too, he just needed to be a dick because otherwise we wouldn't have any plot as he would have put a stop to it 800 years ago._**

 ** _I've seen Infinity War and ARGHHHH! If you want to come scream about it with me PM me on here or my tumblr username is stardustloki (if you just want to follow me anyway I post mostly mcu stuff) :D_**

 ** _I want to say thanks again for all the reviews, follows and favourites, you guys are all incredible!_**

 ** _28/04/2018_**

 **Chapter Seventeen - Discovery**

"Jarvis, run the simulation again," Tony ordered and the five of them watched the hologram of the Einstein-Rosen bridge successfully reach Vanaheim.

"We did it, oh my God we did it!" Jane screamed, pulling Darcy into a hug. "This is the biggest advancement in science ever! Oh just wait 'til the rest of the scientific community see this… who will be the insane storm chaser then? Not me!"

"We still actually have to build it without the world being pulled apart," Erik pointed out.

"Oh shush, don't spoil her moment," Darcy said, giving him a light shove.

"Who said anything about the world being pulled apart?" Tony demanded. "Nope, we have the self-sustaining energy of my soon to be built massive arc reactor and we have Loki. Did you not see the simulation? This calls for a party. Jarvis, prepare my finest spirits and order us all some pizza,"

Tony caught Loki's eye and grinned at him. Loki grinned back, feeling light and happy. His life on Midgard was going well, it was full of possibilities, and, best of all, Tony Stark.

"And what says our resident alien?" Tony asked, leaning over and pecking him lightly on the lips. Loki blushed and did nothing to hide his grin. He still wasn't used to all the affection that Tony showered him with, but oh it was wonderful! He saw Darcy gesticulating wildly to Jane out of the corner of his eye and knew it must be about the conversation he had overheard a few days earlier. Everyone had been surprised by how slowly Tony had been taking this, apparently Tony had a reputation for sleeping around, no 'strings attached'. Tony had protested that although Loki was 'hot' (and Loki was still unsure about that term to refer to himself) he wanted much more than sex out of the relationship and he was willing to take his time over it. Loki was glad that Tony didn't want sex from him, at least not yet. He wanted Tony, but at the same time whenever he thought about it all he could think about was the helplessness that he'd felt due to Angrboda and Svadilfari.

"I say that we've done it perfectly, but I can check the calculations again if Erik wishes?"

"I would like that," Erik said.

"Pfff, that's a thing for tomorrow," Tony said, pulling Loki off the workbench that he was sitting on. "Party now,"

Loki allowed Tony to drag him towards the stairs.

"I'm going to want poptarts," Loki said seriously. "In honour of Thor. Mother said they were his favourite Midgardian delicacy when she brought food back with her that time-"

At that moment they were all thrown backwards by a rush of pure power.

"Jarvis!" Tony yelled, and Loki could see him clutching at his arc reactor as if convincing himself it was still there. "Jarvis, what's going on?"

But no answer came, the only sounds being everyone's ragged breathing as they waited for a reply. Dum-E, who had been knocked onto his side, whined mournfully.

"Okay…okay," Tony said, scrambling to his feet and pulling Loki up. "We need to get out of here. That was some weird kind of EMP blast. Jarvis is down, my suits might still work but we'd need to get into them manually and I'm not sure if we have enough time. We can grab the guns, then we'll escape up the ramp… Loki, come on, move!"

"No," Loki said quietly, feeling a sense of irreality. "It's too late,"

Because Odin had found him. That was the only explanation. He was the only being Loki knew of that wielded such power.

"Loki and I will go up the stairs, draw him away, you guys continue up the ramp," Tony ordered, seeming to catch Loki's meaning, and Loki could see the rest of them nodding.

"No, you can't do this," Loki said desperately, clutching Tony's wrists. He couldn't, _wouldn't_ let Tony endanger himself like this. He couldn't let another person he loved suffer.

"Yes, I can," Tony told, his brown eyes boring into Loki's seriously. "Because I would do anything for you, Loki,"

And with that Loki found himself pulled towards the stairs again. After a few seconds his feet seemed to catch up with his brain and he started to race up the stairs of his own accord. If he couldn't protect Tony he could at least protect the others.

Loki wasn't exactly sure where they were going. Nor, he suspected, was Tony. He just knew they had to get as far away from the mansion as possible, whether to find help, hide, or to draw Odin's attention away from the others.

"So," a voice came from behind them and they both spun around to see Odin standing in front of the couch next to the stairs. Loki was sure that Odin hadn't been there a second ago, but then again, he supposed Odin did like to make grand entrances. "This is where you have been during your exile to Midgard,"

Loki knew that Odin could see that Tony's hand was clutched tightly in his, and part of him wanted to push Tony away in a desperate last attempt to protect him, but another part couldn't bear to let him go.

"You must be Odin," Tony said curtly. "I've heard a lot about you. Not great on the being king front, or parenting really, or being a good husband. I think the only thing you may have succeeded at was being a worse parent than my dad,"

 _Please don't make this worse Tony!_ Loki willed, trying to ignore the part of him that rejoiced at finally having someone who was willing to protect him, because there was no way that Tony would get out of this unscathed.

"As if you'd know anything about ruling, _mortal_ ," Odin snapped. "Your kind have only just crawled out of mud huts, you are no more than ants to Asgard. You would think you would know how to hold your tongue in the presence of a king but perhaps it is unsurprising that one such as Loki chooses to spend his time on one as witless as yourself,"

"Well, you did banish him here so it's not like you gave him much choice of non-ant company," Tony said flippantly.

Suddenly there was a rush of movement to Odin's left and he threw up a shield. Loki's eyes widened in confusion and dawning horror as he saw the throwing knife hovering in mid-air, stuck in Odin's shield.

"Did you really think that would work?" Odin asked cuttingly, plucking the knife out of the air and examining it.

"It was worth a shot," Darcy's voice rang out from the direction of the stairwell. Loki felt a rush of gratitude for her attempted rescue and sheer terror at the thought of Darcy being exposed to the wrath of Odin.

"Do you know the penalty for trying to kill the king of Asgard?"

"Well, you're on Earth currently, and without the consent of anyone official, and trying to harm citizens of Midgard," Darcy replied, sounding far too relaxed in Loki's opinion.

"And Midgard is under Asgard's protection and rule,"

"Really?" Jane asked and Loki's heart sank further – had they all come? "Because I don't remember Asgard helping whenever we had some kind of global catastrophe,"

"Odin, they are just mortals, they are young, they do not understand the gravity of their crimes," Loki pleaded. Perhaps, he hoped, there was still chance to save them.

"Do you truly believe you are in any position to make demands _Laufeyson_?" Odin warned and Loki's breath caught in his throat and he hunched in on himself, centuries of that tone of Odin's voice making him want to make himself as small as possible. "Asgard is falling and you have turned Frigga against me, what-"

"Pretty sure you did that yourself by being an asshole," Tony interrupted, squeezing Loki's hand in what Loki thought was an attempt to be comforting. Loki thought he would feel a lot more comforted if Tony would just _shut up_.

"I know what despicable lies you and your mortals have been feeding him, Tony Stark," Odin seethed. "But rest assured I know the truth of the matter, for Loki would never do as he is told and obey me. No, always he must act like the rest of his kind and threaten the safety of my kingdom. Frigga would never have betrayed me like this if not for Loki's influence. I know she has visited here on several occasions and I know that Loki has twisted the reasons for my actions to make himself seem blameless,"

"His kind?" Tony questioned and Loki's mind flared in panic. No, Tony couldn't know, he could never let Tony know, he couldn't cope if Tony hated him.

"Odin, I am sorry, truly I am, I have done my best to obey you! I do not understand why mother still cares for me, I tried to explain your reasoning to her, but she would not hear it! I never meant for the Frost Giants to get the Casket, I let them into the vault because I knew that Thor was not ready to be as wise a king as you. I tried to talk Frigga out of giving the Jotuns the Casket, I told her they were bloodthirsty monsters who would only use it to harm Asgard,"

"So, this is all Frigga's fault is it boy?" Odin demanded, advancing towards him. Loki stepped backwards, pulling Tony with him and trying to get him to go behind him, made difficult by Tony trying to force Loki behind himself. At least though, Odin no longer seemed focused on Tony's question.

"No!" Loki exclaimed. "I did not mean that, of course it was not. I know how often I manipulate others without realising it,"

Loki forcefully ignored the incredulous look Tony shot him.

Odin glared at him and Loki flinched. "Yes, you do. And now I have had to arrest my wife for treason,"

" _What_?" Loki exclaimed against his better judgement. "What do you mean to do with her? Please do not harm her, I swear I will do-"

"She is in the dungeons of Asgard, awaiting judgement. I expect that I will sentence her there for some centuries, after all I cannot kill her for your mistakes. But, if the damage you have caused proved too much to be undone, make no mistake, I _will_ ,"

"No, fath- Odin," pleaded Loki. He couldn't believe that he'd caused this, he should have argued with his mother more, and now she would be dead. Because of him. Because Norns knew when his Mother swore something she never went back on her promise. "Please, you do not have to do anything like that, please, just banish her here with us, we cannot harm you as mortals. We can cause no destruction to Asgard here,"

"No, Loki," Odin said gravely. "You went too far when Frigga handed over the Casket. And I saw you making plans to raise your children with Anthony of Midgard, however you planned to do that I promise you, you will never see then again. But worst of all, in my sleep I saw you preparing to make a Bifrost for Midgard. You know this to be treason of the highest order. No realm but Asgard must possess a Bifrost and no one is allowed to give its secrets to scholars of other realms,"

"Then kill me and leave Frigga out of this, leave the Midgardians out of this too! They have no concept of inter-realm politics, that knew not that they were breaking the laws of Asgard. Please, kill me and leave them be!"

"I cannot, not when I have seen them corrupting your mind so," Odin said, his tone ominous.

At once Loki's ears were assaulted by the voices of his four Midgardian friends. He couldn't exactly make out what they were saying but he caught snippets…

"…hates himself for no reason…"

"…stole his children…"

"…raped by a horse…"

"…believe everything is his fault and…"

"…just try to kill him and I swear to God I'll…"

"…fucking traumatised him…"

"Silence!" Odin roared, and Loki was relieved to see that his friends at least had the sense to be quiet when Odin ordered them to be. "Or I will silence you myself.

"Loki, I have been lenient on you as you well know. But the punishment must fit the crime so before I sentence you in full I will turn your friends against you as you turned my wife against me. They will see you for what you truly are. And then you will give up this delusion that you could actually mean anything,"

" _No_!" Loki heard himself shriek as he felt the last trickles of familiar magic draining from him. In his panic he shoved Tony away and heard him grunt in pain as he fell to the floor. This couldn't be happening, it _couldn't_ , he had found friends only to lose them so soon. Even Midgardians, with their strange, nigh inexplicable views on things, could not forgive _this_.

"Huh," he heard Tony say over the sound of his unsteady breaths. Loki refused to look at him, he wouldn't let himself see the hate in Tony's eyes. "I was wondering why you looked so normal. This makes so much more sense, it was so weird how you seemed to be human but came from another planet!"

Loki frowned as he looked down fixedly at the floor, trying desperately to stay calm and to stop the tears from running down his cheeks – he couldn't give Odin yet another thing to punish him for and he couldn't be weak in front of everyone that he cared for. Tony didn't _seem_ to hate him, he seemed curious, but that couldn't be right? Could it?

"Why didn't you tell us you were such a cool blue colour Lokes?" Tony demanded, sounding sort of hurt… but not _disgusted_ by him.

Loki looked across at Tony, who was still on the floor where Loki had shoved him, gaping at him.

"Enough!" Odin yelled and Loki flinched, his gaze flying to Odin. "He is one of the creatures that invaded your world a millennium ago and you would lie there _complimenting_ him!"

"So?" Tony said. "None of us remember that, and you know what, so did a shit ton of other people. As a planet we invade other people all the time, but it doesn't mean that we have to hate all the other countries and not see the people who live there as individuals. None of us care that Loki is all blue and liney because we're not dicks,"

"Yeah," Darcy said in the background. "Loki's cool whatever colour he is. Nothing changes just because you shapeshifted him,"

"So, if you thought that was going to make us hate him. Try harder," Tony said and Loki could hear the smirk in his voice.

"You will not think in this manner when his touch burns you," Odin promised. "I've seen your unnatural desires, Tony Stark, I've seen what you and this _creature_ do. It makes sense that one such as Loki would fall for you," Odin laughed humourlessly. "And what will you do when his touch brings you only pain?"

Loki grit his teeth and turned away. Odin was right, he realised, even if it were possible that Tony would not hate him in this form, surely he would have little more use for him if he couldn't touch him, surely this would only cause him frustration and Tony would eventually get bored and abandon him. After all, Tony enjoyed kissing him, and he had said he didn't want sex with Loki yet. 'Yet' being the operative word, he would want it at some point and Loki wouldn't be able to give it to him. And could Loki even survive without Tony's comforting touches, even as friends they had grounded him and brought him joy, could he cope with the loss of affection?

"If I might advise you to step away from Sir and Loki," Jarvis's voice rang out and Loki felt a ray of hope. If Jarvis, who had happily stopped calling him 'Odinson' some weeks ago, was here, then maybe they would still be okay…

Tony let out a broken sounding, "Jarvis?"

"Indeed Sir," Jarvis replied. "It seems to have taken some time for the mansion to power up again, but while I was offline here I was still active in a number of other locations. I have contacted reinforcements from SHIELD,"

"What is this spirit that dares threaten me?"

"He's like Heimdall, but less of a dick," Jane said drily.

"And more useful," Erik added. "You know, I'm not sure why I idolised you as a child, I definitely regret doing so now,"

"I had thought," Odin said, and Loki felt that he saw more than a hint of madness round the edges. That was not a good sign. "That I would simply have you all executed. But now I see that is too good for you all. Loki do you remember the time I placed you under a snake so that it would continuously drip venom onto your face?" Odin demanded, and Loki dug his nails into his palm to try to keep the memories at bay. " _That_ will be their method of execution. Mortals are not nearly so hardy as you were, so I expect they will die after a few days of excruciating pain."

"Odin, please, I beg you do not…" Loki trailed off in bewilderment as he saw Odin's face drain of colour.

"No! What? Thor, what have you _done_?" he hissed, then focused on Loki. "You did this, you have brought my downfall. You and that _witch_ have orchestrated the betrayal of my son.

"I do not have time to deal with you all as I would have liked," Odin assured them. "I must leave to sort out Thor's foolish mistake, but rest assured I will be back. Enjoy your last moments together. I do hope the creature's skin won't complicate things too much,"

And with that Odin swept from the room and stepped outside. Loki watched him calling for Heimdall in increasing fury for almost a full minute before the colours of the Bifrost engulfed him.

Loki would perhaps have pondered longer on Heimdall's strange behaviour if at that moment the panic from the entire situation had not caught up with him and he had not collapsed to the floor, shaking and gasping in breaths, feeling as if there was not enough air to allow him to breathe.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Loki could hear Tony saying, distorted through what felt like a haze of water. He felt two warm arms embrace him and he leaned into them. "It's okay, we're okay," Tony promised.

It took longer than Loki would have liked to get his thoughts in order and when he did his head shot up to stare at Tony in amazement.

"You're touching me,"

"Well, yeah," Tony said, as if it were not an issue. "Should I not be able to?"

-M-

Half an hour earlier had found Thor pacing inside the observatory, sparks jumping sporadically out of Mjolnir which he clutched in a brutal grip.

"How _dare_ Loki betray me in such a way!" Thor fumed. "And that _witch_ that I call my mother. She must have cursed me to convince me to hand the casket over to those monsters! I remember not what I have done for half the time since Loki's banishment,"

He breathed heavily, tossing Mjolnir and making it clear that if there were anything that he could have smashed without breaking the Bifrost he would have obliterated it. Heimdall watched on in interest.

"I _trusted_ them. I trusted them and they betrayed me. Where is father now? Tell me he is making the Jotun pay for what he has done to me and to mother. Because it was him, wasn't it, Loki, who caused her strange behaviour?"

"He has not yet reached Loki's abode. I set him down a few miles away so Loki would not notice his arrival and try to run,"

Thor let out a yell of frustration to hide the relief he felt. He couldn't let Heimdall know what he was trying to do here. Thor paced around, throwing out a few more sparks from Mjolnir for good measure, while he thought of what to say next. Loki had always been very good at deception, to everyone other than Odin at least, and he would have said that he needed to drag this out longer to make it look realistic.

"I cannot wait until his return so that we may march gloriously into Jotunheim, slaughter the beasts, and return our Casket. This time Father and I shall fight side by side and desecrate their lands!" Thor cried, emulating the person that he had been just over a month before. "Do you not long for this war, Heimdall?"

"I do," Heimdall replied, a small smile at his lips and Thor wished that he could strike the gatekeeper down with Mjolnir. That would, however, be counterproductive.

"Tell me, you saw the last war did you not? What do you wish me to avenge you for?" Thor asked, throwing Mjolnir into the air and catching it again, a scowl on his face.

"The Frost Giants slaughtered my family in the war," Heimdall said distantly, and Thor's gaze shot to his in surprise. "I have no one left. I wish for you to avenge them...

"I saw them all cut down, watching from afar. Serving Asgard with my sight is an honour, but then it was a curse.

"Likewise, I have watched them for a thousand years, wishing for revenge but knowing that I cannot have it due to the peace agreement. I have watched as they turned to more brutal methods to survive. In harsh winters they eat each other's carcasses like the savages that they are; remember that as you exterminate them and show them no mercy," At this point, Thor thought that perhaps they couldn't be blamed for that, Asgard had left them without their greatest source of power, cut off from the rest of the nine realms and slowly starving to death. Knowing what he did of his own people, he was sure that Asgardians would also eat each other if put in the same situation. Thor channelled his rage for Heimdall and pretended it was for the Frost Giants.

"I am now glad that I was able to slay so many of them on Jotunheim. Monsters like that do not deserve life, why Loki was able to live a life of comfort here I cannot comprehend,"

"Indeed," Heimdall said, then added after a pause, "Thor, do not worry so about Loki living happily and not getting what he deserves. Odin and I have ensured that he was duly punished for his monstrous heritage for hundreds of years now,"

"What?" Thor exclaimed, almost dropping Mjolnir and unable to hide his fury. He hoped that Heimdall would think it was still from the thought of his brother being a Frost Giant.

Heimdall frowned.

"I mean, how did you punish him?" Thor asked. "I was not aware that you and father did so," Because he wasn't, not really, his mother had only hinted at a few things over the last month, he was never given a proper explanation. Although he agreed with the decision not to tell him everything at the same time, it would have been nice if his mother had been just a little quicker over it. He would have liked to have known that Loki was a Frost Giant before Odin had revealed it.

"Mostly I just informed Odin whenever Loki used magic or tricked anyone as a child," Heimdall said, seeming to study Thor carefully.

"Good," Thor said, nodding as if in approval. "And what did father do about it?"

"He threatened to tell you and Frigga of Loki's true heritage. That kept Loki terrified and compliant and less likely to get up to his wicked frost giant tricks. He was often beaten or locked away. On one particularly memorable occasion Odin chained him beneath a snake which dripped venom on Loki's face for a number of years. So, rest assured Loki has been punished for the sins of his people,"

Thor shook with barely controlled rage. He thought of Loki as a child, mischievous at first but then quiet and withdrawn, flinching whenever Thor touched him unexpectedly, hiding in strange places about his room whenever Thor wished to speak with him. He thought of him as an adult, missing for almost two hundred years before he returned, more withdrawn and terrified, prone to fits of tears and rage before often going white with fear and fleeing Thor's presence. He had recovered after a while of course, but was still quiet, with a desperation to please Thor that Thor hadn't questioned, (after all, Loki's loyalty had been useful) that came second only to how adamant he was that he would not go on any enjoyable quest without Odin's permission.

"That was after he had had children, was it not?" Thor questioned and Heimdall frowned.

"Yes," he said.

"Mother told me about those. She said Loki had told her that they could shapeshift into various creatures, that one of them was fated to destroy Asgard,"

"That is correct," Heimdall said.

"Then _why_ has Odin allowed such monsters to live?" Thor raged.

"He cannot kill them, Hela is the Goddess of death," Thor could hear the bitterness in Heimdall's voice as he said this.

"I wish to see them. I wish to know that they cannot harm anyone," Thor declared, pacing again.

"Thor, they are still sleeping, I can see them from here, Odin's spell has not broken. And your father was very specific that no one be allowed to visit them,"

"Please, Heimdall," Thor said. "When I see Loki in my mind I still see the brother I once thought he was, I need to see his monstrous spawn for myself, I need to see proof that he is a monster too. Else, when I see him again, I am not sure if I will be able to harm him,"

Heimdall grimaced, and Thor silently pleaded with him. Everyone knew that Heimdall had a soft spot for Thor, even Thor knew this. That was why he had let Thor pass into Jotunheim when he had asked. Actually… was it? Or did Heimdall want to take revenge on the Frost Giants and Loki, by having Loki be discovered as a Frost Giant and knowing that Thor and his friends would turn on him. Oh. Well, that was something that Thor would have to muse on later.

"Heimdall, please, I need to see for myself,"

"Very well," Heimdall replied. "They are in a room off from the vault. Behind where Mjolnir once sat there is a wall, but it is not a true wall, and if you keep walking, Mjolnir, which is imbued with Odin's magic, will allow you to pass,"

"Thank you, Heimdall," Thor said, feeling relief wash over him.

"It is always a pleasure to help the true son of Odin," Heimdall replied.

Heimdall, pleased to find Thor in such a rage at Loki and the Frost Giants, did not expect the incredible burst of lightning that launched itself from Mjolnir.

Thor watched with satisfaction as Heimdall lay unconscious and smoking on the floor of the observatory. Thor wondered if he should feel remorse, but he couldn't find it in him to care.

"I am no son of Odin," he muttered as he took to the skies, pushing Mjolnir to take him back to the palace as fast as possible.

He could not have delayed Odin's return forever, nor did he want to as that would mean leaving him on the same realm as Loki. But he could at least delay Odin enough to hopefully give him time to rescue Hela, Fenrir, Jormungandr and Sleipnir, before finding his mother in the dungeons to ask for the passageway to Midgard.

Time was against him. But Thor refused to not allow himself to try.

The guards to the vault let him pass without a word when they saw his expression, but as Thor stood glaring at the wall through which he was meant to pass he thought he heard them mutter something about 'sister', 'murdered', and 'Odin'. _Good._ Frigga's message was getting through then.

Thor took a deep breath and threw himself at the wall, now was the moment of truth, now was the moment in which he'd know if Heimdall had been lying to him.

He opened his eyes to find himself standing in a room bathed in a steady orange glow. In the centre of the room there stood a bed covered by a thick layer of magic, presumably that was what was keeping them asleep as it looked very similar to the magic that surrounded the Allfather during the Odinsleep.

On the oval-shaped bed lay three children, a girl with black hair like Loki's, another boy with black hair and a boy with sandy brown hair and a scattering of freckles. They looked peaceful lying there, and Thor supposed they were, the spell didn't seem to be malicious. He was almost tempted to leave them there but Thor felt that he must rescue them while he had the chance. The question was: how?

He examined the bed that they lay on and found a rune, elegantly carved into the left-hand side of the oval. From its power Thor could tell that it was clearly the Allfather's work.

But how to break it?

Thor thought that Loki had once told him that breaking runes was complicated, you had to be careful if you chose to scratch them out, as in doing so, halfway through the process you might accidentally create another rune, one which could be dangerous or destructive.

Thor, however, could only read the most basic of magical runes, and this one was beyond him, and had no idea how he was meant to go about breaking it.

Then it hit him.

To break Odin's spells you needed Odin's magic.

And Thor _had_ Odin's magic.

He had Mjolnir.

Perhaps, things would go very wrong. But Mjolnir had no equal as a weapon to destroy, so he could be fairly certain that Mjolnir could completely obliterate the rune, and due to it being imbued with Odin's magic he would likely face no resistance from any protection spells.

Besides, he reassured himself, Heimdall said that Loki's children were unable to die, so whatever he did he couldn't kill them. Right?

And with that Thor brought Mjolnir down onto the rune.

Again and again he smashed it onto the magically reinforced metal until suddenly, something snapped, and Thor was blown back by a rush of power.

 _Odin will have felt that,_ he realised with a grimace as he clambered to his feet.

He watched with trepidation as the three children blinked their eyes open.

"Hello," Thor said, trying to sound jovial and reassuring. "I am your Uncle Thor, your father sent me to rescue you,"

"Thor?" the black-haired boy questioned, looking awfully suspicious for a child who couldn't be older than a hundred and fifty. "Father tells us stories about you, he says you are brave and mighty, but he also says to run if we ever meet you, for you would take us away from him... Where is Father?"

Thor's eyes widened in alarm as he felt the boy's magic start to build as his eyes began to wobble with tears.

"Did the Allfather take us?" the girl said slowly, looking disorientated, before Thor could come up with an explanation. "The last thing I remember is the wards falling and a great explosion,"

"Yes," Thor said. "But I have come to rescue you from him and take you back to your father, and we shall all live on Midgard, where Odin can no longer harm you. Your father is not here because he is fighting a great battle against Odin to keep you safe,

"Your father may have told you not to trust me, however if I were on Odin's side I would not be rescuing you from this place. Will you come with me?" Thor asked. "We do not have much time, I am sure Odin must have noticed that I broke the rune and we still need to rescue Sleipnir,"

"Oh good, I have always wanted to meet Sleipnir!" the sandy haired boy exclaimed, scrambling to his feet.

"Then today is the start of a remarkable day," Thor grinned. "Now come, we must be quick,"

"No, I want to see Father now!" the black-haired boy said, his magic still bubbling.

"But think how pleased father will be to see Sleipnir!" the other boy exclaimed. "And we have never met Uncle Thor before!"

"Can Mjolnir really defeat any enemy?" the girl asked and Thor nodded, holding it out so she could see.

"It is how I broke the spell keeping you asleep," Thor explained.

"Can you carry me?" she questioned, and Thor blinked at her, once again, abrupt change of topic.

"Of course," Thor replied, easily scooping her up in one arm. "Would either of you like-"

"Oh no," the sandy haired boy said. "Carrying Jormungandr is _my_ responsibility,"

And with that the boy suddenly transformed into a puppy, who wagged his tail as a small snake (presumably Jormungandr) wound his way lightly around the puppy's neck. Thor watched this in alarm as he clutched his niece.

"They do this _all_ the time!" she informed him. "Father gets very annoyed, but nothing bad has happened so far,"

The dog gave a bark and bounded out of the room. Thor followed close behind.

"What is your name?" he finally asked the girl.

"I'm Hel, the wolf is Fenrir, and the snake is Jormungandr," Hel said. "Shouldn't you know that if you're our uncle?"

"Blame your grandfather," Thor muttered as they rushed up the steps.

The guards yelped in surprise as Fenrir rushed between their legs, looking in bewilderment at the puppy who now raced around in circles in the corridor.

"I am rescuing my brother's children, you will not stop me," Thor said gravely, brandishing Mjolnir with the hand that he wasn't holding Hel with.

The Einherjar shook their heads wordlessly.

"Prince Thor," one called out as they were halfway down the corridor. "Is it true that the Allfather killed his second born and that Loki is not your brother?"

"Odin did kill his second born, but Loki is my brother in bond," Thor cried, turning back towards them and trying not to trip over Fenrir who had decided to rush around his feet and get in his way as much as possible.

"And did he harm the Queen?"

Thor thought for a second. "I cannot be certain. He said things that concerned me, and he threatened her, but in truth I know not,"

And with that he raced along the corridor and up the next flight of stairs, Fenrir charging along beside him.

He needed to reach Sleipnir before the Allfather did.

"Can you carry me on your shoulders instead?" Hel questioned and Thor sighed and swooped her up onto his shoulders. Hel grabbed on somewhat painfully to his hair but he supposed that wasn't what was important right then.

Thor ignored all other questions from confused guards, nobles or servants, determined to waste no more time in getting to the stables.

Finally, he reached them, racing inside to see Sleipnir looking at him, head tilted in curiosity.

It seemed that Odin had not yet caught up with them.

So far, so good.

 ** _I hope you all enjoyed that!_**

 ** _Next up: Thor and the triplets try to rescue Sleipnir. Loki etc. try to rescue Frigga. Stuff happens._**

 ** _If you would like to read more stuff by me and have been emotionally destroyed by infinity war I have just started writing a fix-it fic. Rest assured that fic will never take priority over this one though!_**


	18. Rescue

_**A/N: Some of you may notice that Loki's pattern of speech is becoming more informal at times, especially when you compare him to other Asgardians. This is a conscious decision due to the fact that he's been spending lots of time around the Midgardians :)**_

 _ **Thank you all so much for all the reviews, follows and favourites, you are all incredible!**_

 _ **I hope you enjoy the chapter!**_

 _ **05/05/2018**_

 **Chapter Eighteen - Rescue**

"Okay, what the hell just happened?" Darcy demanded, picking her throwing knife up from the floor.

"Odin is coming back to kill us all," Loki said shakily, still clutching on to Tony, who held him tightly, seemingly experiencing no pain from Loki's blue skin. Loki was still very confused about why Tony was able to do this. "I'm sorry, without my magic I cannot hide us from Heimdall, I don't know how to protect us!"

"We have my Iron Man suits," Tony said, rubbing Loki's shoulder with his thumb in a way that Loki managed to draw comfort from despite the direness of their situation. "I can develop some way to summon them to me, I was thinking some sort of implant. And we have SHIELD,"

Loki could hear the annoyance in Tony's voice at the last statement. "Whether or not we have SHIELD they will be of no use, they cannot stand against the might of Odin, and especially not of Asgard,"

"They can try," Tony muttered.

"We have Thor though, don't we?" Jane asked. "It sounds like he's on our side,"

Loki grimaced. "I fear he cannot stand against the Allfather. Mother is the only one who might have been able to hide us from the Allfather and she has been arrested for treason! Odin will kill her and it will be my fault!" Loki all but screamed.

"So, we swing her from jail," Tony said and Loki almost laughed. As if it were that simple!

"And how do you suppose we get to Asgard, we have not even started to build our Einstein-Rosen bridge! Odin would return before we were even halfway through," he replied bitterly.

"What about the passageways between worlds you were talking about?" Erik asked.

Loki shook his head and sighed. "Even with my magic, on Asgard it took me years to find the passageways between realms. Without my magic I am so much less sensitive to my magic than I was, we would never find it in time,"

"But don't we know what this energy should feel like?" Darcy questioned. "I mean, I'm not a genius like you guys but you did the calculations for how much energy should be produced from the E-R bridge, wouldn't it be similar?"

"Darcy, you're brilliant!" Tony enthused and Loki could hear the hope in his voice. "J, scan SHIELD's database for any anomalous readings close to what Loki said we should expect from the Bifrost. Loki, I promise you we will rescue your mother,"

Loki nodded, hardly daring to believe what was happening. Were they actually going to do this?

"So, while we wait, what's the deal with this whole blue thing?" Tony asked, helping Loki back to his feet.

Loki looked away. It was incredible that Tony was tolerating him now, but here he was, and he supposed he owed him an explanation, even if he feared that everyone would leave him.

"I am not an Asgardian, I am a Jotun, a Frost Giant," Loki said shakily, forcing himself to get the words out. "Asgard believes that the Jotuns are vicious beasts, savages. They live in a realm named Jotunheim and just over a thousand years ago in their greed they attempted to invade Earth and plunge your people into another Ice Age. I was abandoned to die on Jotunheim because I was weak. Odin took me in out of the kindness of his heart, I suppose, what else would he have taken me for? He asked only that I obey him and suppress my monstrous instincts,"

"He did _not_ take you out of the kindness of his own heart," Tony scoffed. "He took you to be his tool. And what do you mean monstrous instincts? It's been awesome having you stay. J, isn't Loki a delight to have in this house?"

"Indeed, sir," Jarvis said smoothly.

"Odin's the real monster," Darcy cut in and Loki looked up to see the others nodding, looking furious. Not at him though, he thought.

"Look, Lokes," Tony said, resting a hand on Loki's shoulder. "Here on Earth we invade each other a lot, it doesn't mean that the people are bad! Besides, do you really think that Odin would tell you the full story of why he invaded somewhere? And if they're so evil, why did your mom feel the need to give the Casket back to them?"

Loki bit his lip. "Tony, I don't know if I can believe all this, I have been trying but… All my life I have believed one thing and then I come to Midgard and you say it is all wrong?"

"If I may have your attention, I have found a number of readings similar to that of the Einstein Rosen Bridge. I believe it's likely that the one we are looking for is in Norway,"

Tony nodded. "Okay, J. Ready my suit, set a course for my private jet," Tony turned to the others. "Are you guys coming too?"

"Hell yeah!" Darcy said, before Jane grabbed her arm.

"I don't think we should," she said apologetically. "We have a potential alien invasion on the way, a bridge to build and SHIELD to deal with and convince them to help us,"

"Yeah, that's fair," Tony shrugged. "Loki, are you good with that?"

"None of you are combat trained to the extent of an Asgardian warrior," Loki said, sorrowful that the others wouldn't be coming with them, but equally relieved. "It will be easier for Tony and I to sneak in and to escape if we only have to worry about ourselves," Loki took a deep breath and turned to Tony. "You know you don't have to come with me,"

"Yes, I do," Tony said, then gritted his teeth as he looked towards Jane. "Jarvis, give Jane access to the arc reactor files. Let SHIELD have them too if they need them to help build the Bifrost, but delete any unnecessary records off their files. Don't let Fury try to build weapons out of them. Oh, what else do I need to do… if I don't come back, the company, all of it, goes to Pepper and these guys get all my labs, my bots and all the resources they want,"

"Sir, are you sure?" Jarvis said and Loki thought he had never heard Jarvis sound so confused.

"Godammit J I'm sure," Tony snapped and Loki had the impression that he was trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince Jarvis.

"Tony…" Jane whispered. "You'd let us have the plans for the arc reactor?"

Tony swallowed, and Loki could only imagine how hard this was for him. "Yeah, well, if this doesn't work I need them in safe hands. And how are you guys meant to advance science and build the bridge without it?"

"Thank you," she said, and Erik and Darcy echoed her.

"Sir, SHIELD are due to arrive in two minutes," Jarvis warned.

"Okay, cool," Tony said, wringing his hands together. "Bye guys, I guess. Loki, with me, I can carry you in the suit until we've reached the airfield,"

As Loki raced down the steps and back into the labs he shot the others a last look. They all looked varying degrees of terrified and sorrowful and Loki had to admit he felt the same. He'd never had such good friends and the thought that this might be the last time he would see them was unbearable.

But he had to leave, as otherwise they would be dead and he would lose them anyway.

"Jarvis, tell them I said thank you," Loki asked quietly before Tony gripped him tightly and they shot towards the exit.

-M-

"Sleipnir! It is so good to finally meet you!" Fenrir exclaimed, now back in his human form, though Jormungandr still draped round his neck as a snake. "I cannot wait until you are a boy again so you can play with us properly!"

Thor observed that Sleipnir seemed very happy about this turn of events but that did nothing to stop the pressure Thor felt. He supposed that it would be easier to leave here with Sleipnir in his horse form but he was loath to leave the boy like this, unable to communicate properly with them. But, maybe, when they got to Midgard, Loki would know how to undo the spell. Thor pointedly ignored the voice in his head that said if Loki knew then he would have rescued him when he had the chance.

He had already smashed down the door to Sleipnir's stall, the issue of any magically reinforced locks now out the way, and he stood there, rubbing Sleipnir's nose gently as Hel sat on Sleipnir's back, braiding his mane.

"Are you not going to turn him back?" Fenrir demanded.

"I…do not know how…" Thor said apologetically.

"Is there not a spell that would break Odin's?" Hel asked.

"Yes," Thor said. "But it requires Odin's magic to work,"

Fenrir yelled as he was pushed to the floor with the weight of the now Asgardian-looking Jormungandr.

"But you do have Odin's magic, you have Mjolnir," he pointed out, offering a hand to Fenrir; the boy growled up at him.

"I do not think frying your brother with Mjolnir to be a very good plan," Thor said, before frowning at Hel who seemed to be arguing very quietly with thin air.

Abruptly, she turned to him.

"You need to send Mjolnir's lightening through him very gently," she ordered. "And then we… I mean… and then _I_ will cast the spell that's needed. Teach it to me, and my brothers too, because they could help,"

Thor looked towards the rainbow bridge nervously, he could feel the presence of the Odinforce drawing closer, before turning back to Hel. He took a deep breath and began to quickly explain the spell to her. Truly he did not think she would manage it, even with the powers of her brothers, but she was staring at him so seriously, and he supposed that she was Loki's daughter. So maybe she did have a chance?

"Okay," she said, and gestured for Thor to deposit her onto the ground beside Fenrir and Jormungandr. "We need to share our magic like father taught us," she said and Thor watched in surprise as the boys placed their hands on her shoulders, expressions of intense concentration on their faces. "Hit him with your lightening,"

"This may hurt," Thor told Sleipnir, who stood unnaturally still, eyes wide and frightened. "But if you are to be freed from this form this is the only way,"

Sleipnir nodded slightly and Thor did as Hel had commanded. His eyes widened as Hel shot a mixture of silvery-gold, blue and green magic at Sleipnir, muttering the spell under her breath. He kept concentrating on Mjolnir though, finding it surprisingly difficult to only lightly fry him instead of hitting him with the full force of its power.

Sleipnir began to glow with a multicoloured light that rapidly built until suddenly a flash of pure energy threw them all backwards.

Thor blinked rapidly, trying to adjust his eyes to the light and his gaze fell on the form of a naked teenager with long black hair, lying in the hay and looking around in confusion.

"Sleipnir, are you alright?" Thor asked, scrambling to his feet and ripping his cloak off so Sleipnir could cover himself against the chill (and Thor had everything to do with how terrible the weather had been recently).

The teenager let out a strangled sound and tried to push himself into a sitting position.

"Oh, I am so happy you are here brother!" Fenrir exclaimed, throwing his arms around Sleipnir, who seemed to be having trouble making his arms hug his brother back. "You look just like father, did you know that?"

Again, Sleipnir, who did look just like Loki as a teenager, Thor realised, tried to speak, but nothing except strange noises would come out. Tears came to his eyes.

"It is okay Sleipnir," Thor said, trying to sound calm. "You will soon learn to speak and move normally. But now we must go, I can feel the Allfather getting closer, the power of the Odinforce grows stronger in his rage,"

The children all looked at him, eyes wide.

"Would it be alright if I carried you?" Thor asked Sleipnir, who managed a nod, before Thor reached down and scooped Sleipnir into his arms, making sure the cloak was still wrapped round his frame.

"Now, you young ones are in for a treat," Thor said, his tone light. "It is time to meet your grandmother,"

-M-

When they had first arrived on Asgard after a strange trip through what felt like a wind tunnel of bright, swirling colours, Tony had been ecstatic. Despite the dire circumstances they had appeared on a cliff overlooking a mass of water, a sparkling bridge and what looked like a gigantic, golden pipe-organ. It was stunning and Tony had ordered Jarvis to take as many readings as possible, before he realised belatedly that he was on another planet and had no way to connect to Jarvis's servers. Aside from that, the only thing dampening the mood had been the appalling weather. Wind buffeted them from all sides and rain poured heavily down on them, accompanied by the occasional burst of lightening that made Asgard's golden architecture sparkle. Loki had said that this was a good thing though, it meant that Thor was likely still safe from Odin.

That had all been before Loki had led them down into a lesser known passage through the cliffs into the depths of Asgard's dungeons. Tony was not enjoying the jagged passages that threatened to remind him too much of his time in the caves in Afghanistan. He had to hold it together though, for Loki, for Frigga, for his awesome science family.

Loki didn't look as if he were faring any better though. His face was drawn and his jaw set tightly, and Tony knew that he was thinking about all the things that could go wrong, and exactly what the Asgardians might do to him if they saw him in this form (because for a planet that was meant to be advanced, they were apparently ridiculously racist. And, according to Loki, that was okay). Tony knew that as soon as they god back, and they _would_ get back, he would need to work on Loki accepting himself more.

"We're coming up on the newer parts of the dungeons," Loki announced after what Tony thought must have been at least ten minutes of anxiety filled stumbling through the semi darkness, their only guide the light of his arc reactor. "The prisoners, they might say some things…"

"It's fine, Loki," Tony said with a confidence he wasn't sure he felt. The tunnels were now lit with an orange glow. "They don't mean anything. We're rescuing your mom, we can handle them,"

Loki nodded tersely and led Tony round a corner.

Tony gasped and almost stopped in his tracks. He easily see the prisoners in all of the cells, the only barrier between them being a glowing golden force-field.

 _What the hell? How did that work?_

This was some science that Loki would definitely need to explain later, but for now, they had a queen to rescue.

Loki strode down the corridor confidently, head held high, and Tony rushed to keep up with him. Almost immediately Tony could hear shouts of exclamation and whispers between the prisoners. Suddenly, the heckling started.

"What do you think you are doing, vermin?" a prisoner spat.

"Your kind killed my family, are you here to try to kill us too? I promise you, you will not succeed this time..."

Fairly soon the cells were in uproar. Loki seemed to have shut down completely, ignoring the taunts and continuing to walk but Tony was not going to stand for that.

He'd grown up in the limelight.

He was Tony Stark, he knew how to play a crowd.

"Hey, listen up assholes!" he yelled, raising his faceplate to glare at them all.

The shouts quietened into whispers, mostly seeming to be along the lines of 'who is he and what is that armour?'.

"I am Tony, of Midgard, and I am here with this fine upstanding gentleman here, who, before you say anything else, had nothing to do with whatever the hell happened a thousand years ago, because _newsflash_ he wasn't born yet, to break someone out of here,

"I take it you guys all know that Odin's gone batshit crazy and decided to throw Frigga down here and might even have her executed?"

Tony smiled as a few prisoners nodded tentatively.

"Cool. Well, we want to rescue her. We're not trying to cause the collapse of Asgard or anything. So, I'm taking it that news travels quickly through these weird force-field walls, do any of you know where the Queen is?"

"Why is a Midgardian working with a Jotun?"

"Because I'm not about to hate someone for something that happened over a dozen lifetimes ago," Tony snapped and the prisoner in question sent him a look that Tony thought could be equated to a patronising 'fair enough'.

"She is in block C, in one of the cells near the entrance," a young Asgardian spoke up, looking warily at both Loki and Tony.

"Awesome!" Tony said. "Thanks, maybe we'll see you guys again on our way out, so, until then… Lokes, where's block C?"

"Wait!" the teen cried. "You must tell us. Did the Queen give the Casket of Ancient Winters to Asgard, was Asgard partially responsible for the invasion of Midgard, did Odin attack the Queen, did he kill her second-born, has the Allfather truly gone mad?"

"Uh, yeah, I think that's all true," Tony said.

"It is, or at least Frigga says so," Loki spoke up for the first time and Tony's gaze shot to him in surprise. "Now if we are to have any chance of rescuing her we should really get a move on. We thank you for your information," he addressed the prisoner.

"Okay, let's go then!" Tony said and Loki shot off, Tony following close behind.

As they turned the corner Tony was sure he heard one of them say 'was that _Loki_? It sounded like him!'.

They raced through the corridors, Tony occasionally calling out reassurances that they weren't here to kill anyone, they were just here to rescue the Queen. Finally, after a number of twists and turns that had Tony wondering how on earth Loki knew his way around, he was startled by a shout of "Mother!"

Tony watched as Frigga stood up from the chaise-longue she had been sitting on, a book falling from her hands and onto the floor. "Loki? What are you doing here? What has happened to your illusion? It was Odin, was it not?"

"What does she mean _Loki_?" Tony heard a prisoner behind him hiss. "The second prince cannot be Frost Giant?"

"We are here to rescue you," Loki said. "You must come with us. It matters not what Odin has done to me,"

"No, Loki, you must go!" Frigga pleaded. "You must save yourselves,"

"Odin means to kill you, I can't let that happen!" Loki exclaimed, wringing his hands together. "If you come with us I can teach you protection spells, we can hide from Asgard,"

"Loki, there is no time to worry for me," Frigga replied and the whispers around them grew louder. "You must help Thor instead, I have asked him to find your children, I expect he is doing that now but I know not how successful he will be, nor if he understood my last request,"

"Look," Tony interrupted. "As touching as this all is, we can't hide from Odin without your magic, and Odin wants to kill us too, so let us break you out of jail already!"

Frigga studied Tony for a second before her gaze flipped back to Loki. "Alright," she said, and Tony could see Loki melt with relief.

"I assume that, as I am a member of the royal family still, I am able to open your cell," Loki said, wasting no time in placing his palm on some form of scanner imbedded into the wall beside Frigga's cell. "Though, as I am in my Frost Giant form I am not sure if…"

Tony heard Loki gasp in happiness as the barrier fell, but his attention was soon drawn by the panicked yelling that began from the prisoners down the corridor.

Apparently, the Einherjar were coming.

"We've got incoming!" Tony yelled at the two of them.

Within moments four prison guards had appeared behind them, cutting off their exit.

"Your highness," one of them stated. "Please get back in your cell and allow the Jotun and the metal man to come quietly,"

"Yeah, that's not going to happen," Tony said.

"You know Odin has lost his mind, so you know I cannot do that," Frigga said calmly and the guards began to look increasingly nervous.

"We cannot go against the word of the Allfather,"

"Is your duty to Asgard, or to the Throne?" Frigga demanded.

Tony was shocked to see that the leader looked genuinely regretful. "I am sorry,"

Frigga sighed. "So am I. Tony?"

He took the cue and blasted the Asgardians away with his repulsors, the next second a throwing knife had imbedded itself in the hand of one who had reached for his sword. In a blur, Frigga, who Tony assumed had thrown one of Loki's Stark-Industries knives, was on him, wrenching the sword from the surprised Asgardian's grip and rapidly disarming the other three.

Tony wasn't ashamed to say that he watched in awe as Frigga twirled round, her blade slashing through the air.

"Get in my cell," Frigga ordered, the sword at the throat of one of the Einherjar.

"Of course, my Queen," one of them said and stepped inside, not seeming to be very upset about just having been defeated. The others followed suit.

Loki reactivated the cell's force-field.

"My Queen," one of the guards said hesitantly. "I saw Thor tearing through the palace earlier with a young child, a wolf cub and a snake…"

Loki's gasp echoed down the corridor and Tony grabbed his hand and pulled him back down the way they'd come.

"Thank you," he heard Frigga say before she raced to catch up with them. Tony briefly wondered if it was very regal for a queen to run before deciding that it was an emergency, so it didn't matter.

"We need to rescue them," Loki said, his voice shaking. "What if Odin has already found them?"

"What do you think I'm doing?" Tony asked. "Odin has not come to face with me in my suit yet and he will get what's coming to him. Which way to the real exit?"

"Right," Frigga said, and they sped off down the corridor.

"We are almost at the entrance. We should make for the stables once we get past the guards because I assume Thor will have been headed there," she continued a few minutes later.

They raced along the corridors, soon coming face to face with a group of a dozen Einherjar, which both he and Frigga made quick work of. Tony briefly felt a pang of regret that the guards were considerably more injured than those of the last group.

They found themselves in a courtyard with three exits going leading away from it.

"We should take the path through the gardens," Loki said. "We will meet less people that way, they will not want to be out in this weather, and certainly less guards than we would indoors,"

"I agree," Frigga nodded. "Though I would base my decision on whether or not I could sense the Odinforce it feels overpowering and I can no longer tell where it is coming from,"

Loki grimaced and Tony followed them as they made for the exit on the left.

They sped through the downpour through some lovely gardens, somewhat flooded by the overabundance of rain, containing some of the most bizarre plants Tony had ever seen. If his mind had not been so fixed on finding Thor before Odin did Tony might even have stopped to collect some. So what if he was an engineer, alien plants were cool!

"Turn right at the next fork in the paths!" Loki ordered, before stopping short as a deep voice rang out ahead of them. Loki grabbed Tony and pulled him behind a substantial hedge, and Tony's heartrate increased upon seeing the sheer terror in Loki's eyes.

"Thor?" a voice that was unmistakably Odin's demanded. "What do you think you are doing?"

Tony peered round the bush to see Odin, magical spear in hand, standing intimidatingly in front of a muscular man with long blonde hair, soaked through from the rain, who had to be Thor. Thor seemed to be supporting a gangling and skittish black-haired teen, wrapped in what appeared to be a red blanket, with one arm and clutching a hammer that was emitting sparks with the other. A zombie-like child was peering round Thor's legs, a small snake wound around her waist, and was clutching the hand of a sandy haired boy.

"I am rescuing my nephews and niece," Thor replied stonily.

"Thor, look at them, they are monsters," Odin scoffed and Loki suddenly tried to launch himself round Tony and at Odin.

Tony caught him and held him back. "No, wait," he hissed. "I can hit him with my targeting system, he'll never see us coming, he'll never think to stop it!"

Tony relaxed, relief filling him, as Loki nodded, biting his lip and drawing back closer to the hedge.

"Odin," Thor said seriously. "I do not believe you truly know the definition of a monster. You claimed the Jotuns were, and I hated them accordingly, yet now you say Loki is one, so I know that they cannot be,"

Beside him, Loki made a small choking noise and covered his mouth with his hands. Tony wrapped his arms around him, steadying him, as Loki looked ready to collapse.

"Very well, Thor, I can see that they have corrupted you too," Odin said wearily, and Tony peered round the hedge again, activating his targeting system. Out of the corner of his eye Tony could see Frigga shooting him a desperate look. "I take from you your power!"

Tony's eyes widened as Mjolnir shot from Thor's grasp and into Odin's. Thor reached towards it, a desperate expression on his face. It didn't move.

Okay, time to act.

Tony let the targeted bullets shoot towards Odin. So what if he were about to kill one of the most powerful beings in the universe - he'd ruined Loki's life and threatened his children.

The bullets bounced off the Odin's armour and he swung around to face Tony. Okay… those bullets were designed to pierce tanks, he had so not been expecting that. What kind of magic was protecting Odin?

Odin raised his spear and Tony was certain that this was the end for him, what could he do against a god?

"No!" Loki yelled, shoving him out of the way. "Don't harm him!"

"You!" Odin said with such malice in his voice Tony had to do a double take.

"Father!" one of the children yelled, sounding elated, and Loki shot them a fearful glance.

"Odin, please, do not do anything rash!" Frigga begged, moving to stand in front of both of them.

"I do not believe this!" Odin cried. "I cannot. You are against me, you are all of you against me. You will destroy me, you will topple my kingdom. No, no, I cannot let that happen!"

He pointed his spear at them, beginning to utter a spell, his eyes wide and crazed, when he was thrown several feet by a incredible stream of lightening.

Tony felt his hair stand on end as he gaped at Thor, whose entire body crackled with lightening, his face set in an expression of pure fury.

Thor stared down at his hands in shock as he looked between them and Odin, mouthing a silent " _What?_ ". Suddenly, he seemed to notice who Tony assumed to be Sleipnir, who lay on the ground, slightly singed, still wrapped in the soaking wet red blanket.

"Are you alright?" he asked the teen, helping him carefully to his feet. Sleipnir nodded, standing awkwardly, his legs trembling.

There came a rush of air past Tony and suddenly Loki had flung his arms around Sleipnir, sobbing. "I had thought that I would never see you like this, I had thought you would never be free of him! Oh Sleipnir, my son, my son,"

Sleipnir hugged him back, tears streaming down his cheeks too, but Tony could see his slightly-crooked smile shining with happiness.

"Father!" the now normal looking girl said as three small children gripped Loki's legs. "It is ever so good to see you again, though we have only missed you for about an hour it seems like _forever_!"

"Is Uncle Thor coming to live with us?" the one who Tony thought must be Fenrir, asked. "I like Uncle Thor. He rescued us and said we has been asleep for _so_ long, though I do not remember it, _and_ he does really amazing lightening, just like in your stories!"

"I am not sure if he wants…" Loki said hesitantly, looking down at Fenrir.

"Of course I am!" interrupted Thor, ruffling Fenrir's hair. Fenrir gazed up at him adoringly. "I would not want to miss my favourite wolf growing up!"

"Am I your favourite snake?" Jormungandr asked seriously.

"Of course," Thor grinned and Jormungandr let go of Loki to give Thor a hug.

Tony thought that Loki looked somewhat devastated at the loss of the contact, but he supposed to Jormungandr, he hadn't been away from Loki for all that long.

"Father, why are you blue?" Hel asked, her nose wrinkling in thought. "You never like being blue when we are not in the house, and even then you act really odd about it,"

"Odin cursed me," Loki said awkwardly. "I don't have any magic,"

"Oh no!" Hela exclaimed, gripping him tighter, pressing the side of her face into Loki's thigh and looking an awful lot like she was listening to his leg. "You are right, I cannot feel any of it! We must get your magic back!"

"Which brings us to the topic of Odin," Tony said, gesturing to Odin's prone body. "What are we going to do with him?"

Honestly, he hated to break up the reunion, and he already adored Loki's kids, but fairly soon someone was going to show up, and if they did not deal with Odin he would try to kill them again soon enough.

"We cannot harm him, he is the Allfather, to do so would be the highest treason," Thor declared.

Tony blinked at him, his brow furrowed. "Thor, you just hit him with the biggest lightening blast in the history of lightening blasts! I think you've harmed him! And we've already all apparently committed treason on multiple occasions,"

"As much as I would like my husband gone," Frigga interjected vehemently. "To depose of the king whether by imprisonment or murder would turn the rest of the realms against us. They have sworn an oath to defend the king of Asgard, and it is very clear in our culture what should happen to usurpers. We cannot harm him, we must leave while we still can,"

"Surely, when they see what he has done they will let us off," Tony gaped at her.

"I don't believe so," Loki said seriously. "To overthrow the King could lead to a complete breakdown of hierarchy and authority. The other realms would have to intervene on principle,"

"Well, that's bullshit," Tony said, completely nonplussed.

Everyone stilled as the whir of what Tony could only identify as being something fairly large flying fast towards them filled the air. And there, in the sky, was an honest to god boat speeding towards them.

Tony tensed and raised his repulsors, ready to fire… except no one else seemed particularly worried. Tony figured they must have better than human eyesight and know whoever was in the boat. Still, you could never be too careful.

"Word in the castle is that you are committing treason, my friend," A charming blonde man, with an excellent taste in facial hair if Tony did say so himself, hung over the side, grinning roguishly. Tony thought, that if he hadn't met Loki, here was someone who he would totally have been down for a one-night stand with.

"That word is correct," Thor replied cautiously, and Tony wondered at what point Jormungandr had decided to turn himself into a snake and wrap himself around Thor's overly-muscled arm.

"My friends, we need to get off Asgard, and fast, before the Allfather awakes," Thor said gravely. "Will you aid us?"

"Indeed," said the ginger one.

"We must ask though, who is that?" the only woman there said aggressively, pointing at Loki. Loki swallowed and pulled Sleipnir, Hel and Fenrir closer to him.

"He is Loki," Thor said simply.

"What?" the woman said, looking horrified. "How can you trust him Thor, you know he always…"

"Oh hold your tongue, Sif," Thor said, more than an edge of anger to his voice. "You will not speak ill of my brother in front of me again,"

"Thor, he is a-"

"If I might," Loki interrupted. "There are a number of guards headed in this direction and we may want to get out of here before they find us with Odin's body,"

"Go with them back to Midgard," Frigga urged the Asgardians in the boat, as Tony looked up at the stormy sky to see more boats coming towards them, still distant but growing ever clearer. "I must journey to Jotunheim and warn them of these developments. Odin has promised he will slaughter them all and devastate their lands as recompense,"

There came a shout from behind them and Tony swung round to see guards running towards them from the direction of the dungeons, trampling the flower beds as they went.

"Perhaps we could all go to Jotunheim?" Tony suggested. It did not look like the portal back to Earth was very accessible.

"Good plan," Loki said.

"Go, take the ship, we will hold them off!" Thor's blonde friend yelled, jumping out of the ship, the others following suit. "For Asgard!" he told Thor, clapping him on the back before rushing over to meet their attackers with a clanging of swords.

The others scrambled into the boat and Frigga directed it towards the sky.

"I assume the passage to Jotunheim is easier to get to?" Tony questioned, somewhat belatedly.

Frigga dodged a barrage of fire from one of the ships that was now hot on their tail and everyone ducked, Loki physically shielding Hela, who was screaming, Sleipnir and Fenrir (now a puppy) as they lay in the bottom of the boat. Tony checked to see that Jormungandr was still safely wrapped around Thor's arm. He was.

"It is," Frigga said through gritted teeth, swerving dramatically. Tony sent a few small missiles at their pursuers, sending one spiralling off course. "We need only reach the mountains,"

Tony was so focused on keeping their pursuers at bay that he didn't notice they were hurtling full speed towards a snow-covered mountain until mere seconds before they were due to hit it.

"What are-" was all he was able to yell in panic before the world around them dissolved in a whirl of colour.

Tony allowed himself to breathe. They were safe, probably. They had the kids and Frigga, and now he would finally get to see where Loki had been born.

A wave of cold assailed him and Tony shivered, looking around the grey-white landscape they had just been thrust into.

They had arrived on Jotunheim.

 _ **So, I hope you all enjoyed that, that was probably one of my longest chapters to date, but I didn't want to cut it!**_

 _ **Next up: Our heroes meet Laufey and prepare for war.**_

 _ **p.s. if anyone is traumatised from infinity war I have written the first chapter of a fix-it fic (after promising multiple people and myself that I wouldn't). It contains/will contain: a more sassy/confident/sarcastic/mischievous Loki, Pepperony (sorry?), and Tony Stark being a good dad to Peter Parker, also, Dr Strange and his Cloak and time travel. The Monster Under the Bed will ALWAYS take priority though.**_

 _ **Until next time!**_


	19. Family

_**A/N: Sorry for how late this is, things got kinda chaotic and I got ill.**_

 _ **Thank you all once again for all the reviews, follows and favourites, you guys are incredible!**_

 _ **15/05/2018**_

 **Chapter Nineteen - Family**

"What's the plan?" Tony demanded as Loki tried to wriggle into a more comfortable position in the bottom of the boat. He was still clutching Hel, Fenrir and Sleipnir to him, his heart hammering in his chest.

"We hope they don't follow us through the portal to Jotunheim, and we hope we have enough time to warn them before Odin comes through the Bifrost with the full weight of the Asgardian army," Loki said.

"They do not appear to be following us," Thor said, peeking out over the edge of the boat, hugging his arm to his chest in an attempt to shield Jormungandr, who was still in his snake form and wrapped around his arm, from the icy wind of Jotunheim.

Or at least Loki presumed it was icy, he wasn't cold at all.

"I can see the palace from here, it is merely a few leagues away," Frigga informed them, steering the boat far more gently than she had done during their escape. "We should reach it before long,"

Loki jumped as Sleipnir, who had been clutching Thor's cape around him like a blanket and shivering, suddenly became blue. Sleipnir seemed very pleased to be in his Jotun form and gave Loki a crooked smile. Loki, who could at least appreciate the practicality of Sleipnir becoming a Frost giant even if the form made him anxious by association, smiled back.

Hel, Fenrir and Jormungandr followed suit and Loki snorted at Thor's expression upon finding himself clutching a small Frost Giant.

"This form is much better," Jormungandr said.

"Oh, I agree," Thor said diplomatically. "Though you are becoming somewhat unbearably cold, so I would be grateful were you to sit with your siblings,"

"Sorry," Loki mouthed at Thor as Jormungandr clambered over to lie on top of Sleipnir.

In return Thor showed him his frost bite free arms, pulling an over-exaggerated confused face.

Loki grinned, it was good to have his brother back. Especially as now he knew that there were no more secrets, and that, for some bizarre reason, Thor did not hate him.

"What business do you have here, Asgardians?" a hostile voice sounded and Loki hugged his children tighter to him. What could he do to stop the monsters harming them? Nothing.

"We need to speak to King Laufey," Tony said in his slightly electronic voice that reminded Loki somewhat of Jarvis, jumping off the side and presumably flying down to the Frost Giants on the ground. Loki took deep breaths, trying to reassure himself that Tony was clever, Tony would be fine. "We've come here to warn you; Odin has gone mad and wants to come here to kill everyone,"

Loki grimaced. Though Tony was certainly to the point, he did lack a certain edge at diplomacy.

"And why should we trust you to grant you an audience with the King?" another voice replied.

"Because I returned your Casket to you, and it should be clear to you now that I bear you no ill will," his mother's voice rang out above him.

"Very well…" one of them said cautiously. "Land your boat here outside the city and we will bring Laufey to you,"

Then came the agonising process of waiting. Frigga stepped out of the boat that she had left hovering a few feet away from the ground, and, after debating for a few minutes, he extracted himself from his children, told Thor to stay in the boat (he had killed many of their people after all, his presence would likely worsen relations) and look after them, and followed his mother.

"You okay, Loki?" Tony asked, and Loki could tell he was worried despite the mask that hid his face.

"I am as well as could be expected,"

"Yeah? Me too," Tony replied and Loki rolled his eyes.

"Thank you, for everything," Loki told him seriously, pointedly ignoring the confused stares that the Frost Giants were gracing him with.

"No problem," Tony replied. "I'm glad we managed to rescue your kids. They're cute,"

"You think so?"

"Sure,"

"And if we make it back to the mansion, would it be okay if…"

"Of course it will be okay!" Tony interrupted. "I'm not kicking you out because your kids can turn blue. I promised you we were a family, and hey I meant it. Thor and your mom can join. There's just enough space in Malibu, I think, and even if there's not I can build an extension. When we planned your kids rooms, and talked about all the stuff we were going to do with them, I meant it. I'll be with you for everything, even the really boring stuff like parent's evenings… that's if, if you still want to live with me. You still want to live with me, right? If you don't that's totally fine, I just…"

"Of course I do!" Loki exclaimed, his heart bursting with love for the man. "Tony, you've done more for me, for us, than you could ever know,"

"Good," Tony said. "Because I was thinking that we should totally install an ice rink as…"

"Queen Frigga, my advisors tell me you come bearing grave news," Laufey's voice interrupted and Loki swung round to see Laufey less than ten metres away from them. He really hated not having any magic, he often relied on it to sense if people were nearby and his other senses had become dulled somewhat. Then again, he supposed the snow must have dampened the sound a lot, so perhaps his loss of magic was not completely to blame. "I hope that…

"Nál?" Laufey said, his voice cracking, staggering forwards and throwing his arms around Loki. Loki was too stunned to throw him off. "I thought… I thought Odin had killed you… but the lines on your forehead, I could never mistake them..."

Loki stood there in confusion at the genuine grief he could hear in Laufey's words and let himself be manhandled by Laufey who now gripped his shoulders and looked him up and down in concern.

"You are small, but you are strong yet. Tell me, did those beasts harm you?"

Loki could only blink at him.

"How are you here, how do you yet live? I do not understand I…"

"Why?" Loki whispered. "Why do you react so? Odin told me I had been left to die,"

"How _dare_ he!" Laufey's voice was suddenly a picture of fury and Loki flung himself away from his biological father. "Oh…no, Nál, I did not mean to. I will not harm you, no, the only one I will harm is that _thief_ ,"

"You truly care for me?" Loki asked, realising that tears had started to slip down his cheeks but doing nothing to stop them. It was wrong of Laufey to want to harm Odin, and yet it seemed that his monstrous father truly wanted to protect him, but, that couldn't be right. Loki was worthless, wasn't he? At this point his mind began screaming back at him, reminding him of Tony, his mother, Thor, and all of his friends of Midgard; they didn't think he was, so maybe he was worth something. But the question was, why was a Frost Giant showing so much happiness and pain and grief? Could they actually be right about the Frost Giants being just people? Maybe Odin was wrong? Loki had to suppress the automatic flinch that came with thinking ill of Odin.

"Of course," Laufey replied, and Loki noted that Laufey was crying too. Was it acceptable to show such weakness here? "From the moment I first cradled you in my arms I knew I had never known such joy. Your small size never mattered to me, and I immediately knew we had been blessed by a mage of great magic. I have never stopped missing you, grieving for your loss. I left you in the temple surrounded by my most trusted guards to protect you from the Asgardian invasion… I did not expect half to flee to try to save their own families, and the others to be cut down so mercilessly by the Asgardian soldiers in a place of peace, though I suppose they are _Asgardian,_ " Laufey scoffed derisively. Loki frowned, surely Asgardians were not so bad?

"I am so sorry," Frigga said, her voice almost a whisper, and Loki and Laufey turned towards her. She was shaking, her hand covering her mouth, her expression of such regret Loki wasn't sure how to react.

"What do you mean?" Laufey frowned, an edge to his voice.

"I swear, I knew not that he was your son, Odin told me that he had found him abandoned and left to die. If I had known that someone else had wanted him!"

"Yes, what _did_ you all do to him?" Laufey bit out. "I can hardly imagine that the Aesir were very tolerant of a Frost Giant in their midst, nor that the climate was very forgiving,"

"Odin used the Odinforce to give me the form of an Aesir," Loki said quietly. "No one knew what I was except for him and Heimdall,"

"I believe Odin needed another baby to cover up the fact that he had just murdered our own," Frigga said bitterly. "He ensured that no one, save Loki apparently, knew of his heritage. I did not know that he was Laufeyson, though I suppose it makes sense now…" Frigga sighed. "I believe that he wished for Loki to hide his mistakes and to be a puppet king if the need arose,"

Well. Loki thought that that certainly made more sense than Odin taking him in out of the kindness of his own heart in exchange for Loki's obedience.

" _Loki_?" Laufey said, looking at him in shock. "You were the second prince?"

Loki nodded.

An expression of intense relief seemed to fall over his face. "That is good, I feared Odin, in his hatred for me and for my people, would have mistreated you. But now… perhaps I have less reason to kill him. Life on Asgard is better than a life here, slowly starving to death, I suppose,"

Tony let out an incredulous laugh.

"You think this amusing, metal man?" Laufey demanded, and Loki watched as Tony flipped up his faceplate.

"Oh wow, that's cold," he commented, before looking at Laufey. "No, I don't think it's funny, it's just the thought that a dick like Odin would actually be able to take his head out of his ass and treat Loki well is crazy,"

Loki grimaced at Laufey's simultaneously confused and horrified expression. He didn't want Laufey to hate Odin, after all Loki had done many wicked things that… well, actually, was that even true? Loki found himself growing increasingly panicky at the thought that he just _didn't know anymore._

"Nál… Loki, if that is what you would rather be called," Laufey said. "Does this strangely mannered man speak the truth?"

"I…don't…I think so…"

"I will slay him, Odinforce or no I will have my revenge!"

"As will I," Frigga said, and Laufey's glare fell on her.

"You allowed this to happen, you allowed Odin to harm my son," Laufey threatened.

"No, it is not mother's fault!" Loki protested, because surely she had treated him far better than he deserved, and he had frequently deceived her as to what was really going on.

"It is," Frigga gave a wan smile. "I saw what I expected to see, I did not push further,"

His father looked conflicted.

"Well," Tony spoke up again. "You might get a chance to kill him sooner than you think, considering that we all fled Asgard and Odin's coming to kill you all, if we could get back to that topic now,"

"What?" Laufey demanded and Loki realised that, oh yes, they had actually travelled to Jotunheim to warn them of an invasion.

"Odin was not pleased by my decision to hand the Casket over," Frigga explained. "He fears the collapse of his kingdom and things getting out of his control. He arrested me and swore he would lay waste to your realm. Loki and Tony of Midgard rescued me and we escaped to warn you of your fate,"

Laufey grimaced. "Well. We were dying anyway, and I suppose we at least have the Casket. And Odin would not use the Odinforce in battle, it would not be considered honourable. My guards!" Laufey called, addressing the fearful looking Frost Giants around them. "Alert the civilians, make preparation for war, and bring me the Casket!"

He turned to Tony. "You are of Midgard, and yet you would help us?"

Tony shrugged. "Sometimes you have to move on,"

Laufey was spared the embarrassment of continuing to gape at him by Thor's interruption from the boat.

"Laufey, King of Jotunheim, I wish to pledge myself to your service and to fight alongside your soldiers," he announced, climbing out and striding over, kneeling in front of the King.

"I seem to remember you causing ruin and destruction and killing a great number of my men, _Odinson_ ," Laufey said coldly.

"And for that I offer you my apologies. I allowed myself to get caught up in the lure of war and I blindly followed my father's hatred of your people. I have made a great many mistakes, and so I offer you my service in this war in the hope that I may make up for some of the soldiers that you have lost. In addition," Thor continued, his voice sounding more forceful. "I consider myself a son of Odin no longer,"

"That is interesting," Laufey commented. "Do you truly believe you will be able to kill those you once considered brothers in arms,"

"Yes," Thor replied. "For my friends have just done the same for me. And I would not have the Asgardian army harm my family,"

Laufey considered him for a second and Loki watched with bated breath, feeling he was in some sort of dream, surely this could not be _Thor_? Thor, who had pledged to slay all of the Frost Giants; Thor, who had actually slain many; Thor, who cared only for his glory and the glory of Asgard, and the approval of Odin.

"Very well," Laufey said. "You may pledge your fealty to me. What name would you take?"

"Thor Friggason, of… As-"

"Midgard," Tony said. "You want to live with us, right? And I am sure my friends... my _family_ would be happy to have you,"

Thor nodded and smiled warmly at Tony. "Thank you, my friend,"

"No problem, big guy," Tony replied flippantly. Loki was certain that he was gazing at his lover in adoration, but couldn't be bothered to hide his expression, Tony truly was wonderful and a credit to Midgard.

"Then, Thor Friggason, of Midgard and Jotunheim," Thor looked at Laufey with confusion that Loki was sure mirrored his own, but did not get up from his kneeling position, nor take his fist away from where it lay across his chest. "Do you swear to protect Jotunheim and her people, no matter the cost to your life?"

"I swear," Thor said.

"Thor Friggason, I pronounce you a warrior of Jotunheim. Please go with Leif and discuss with him the tactics we intend to use in this battle. You are a formidable warrior and I expect you to use your expertise in this field, however I also expect that you pay closer attention to your shield brothers than you did in your attack on our people,"

Thor nodded as Loki wondered if oaths on Jotunheim were usually so short. "You have my word,"

And with that he smiled confidently at Loki and Frigga before waving at Loki's children, now watching from the boat, and striding purposefully towards the giant that Laufey had introduced as Leif.

"'of Jotunheim'?" Loki questioned.

"He is your brother, is he not?" Laufey replied.

Loki smiled. "Thank you,"

"Now explain to me the presence of the Frost Giant children in the boat,"

Loki steadied himself. If Laufey accepted him, surely he would also accept his children. "They are my children,"

"I have _grandchildren_?"

Loki looked at him guiltily. "Yes,"

"How old were you when Odin forced you to marry?" Laufey demanded, his gaze intense. "Because I know you are barely older than a millennium and the eldest looks to be about five centuries."

"I did not marry," Loki said, turning away, trying to force away feelings of panic and self-loathing. "I cannot discuss this now. Please."

"Well then, make no mistake we will speak of this later, I will know for what reasons I end Odin's life and I will be sure to remind him of them as I drive my ice through his heart," Laufey said, and made his way over to the boat. Loki stared after him, surely he did not mean to really kill Odin? "Hello, I am your grandfather, and I am pleased to meet you,"

"Hello!" said Fenrir, first to speak, as per usual. "It is nice to meet you, my name is Fenrir. You seem much nicer than Odin. Odin cursed us to sleep, but it was okay because Thor rescued us and turned Sleipnir back into a boy and attacked Odin with his lightening. This is Sleipnir, he can't speak because he spent his entire life as a horse! Can you believe that?"

"No, I cannot," Laufey said, clearly trying to keep his anger in check around the children. "I am very happy that you look like a Jotun now, Sleipnir,"

Sleipnir nodded and Laufey embraced both him and Fenrir.

"I am called Jormungandr, I can turn into a snake, but it is too cold to do so here," Jormungandr said, and Loki's smile widened as Laufey pulled Jormungandr into a hug too.

"I would very much like to see that someday,"

Loki watched as Jormungandr grinned happily.

"I am Hel, formally known as Hela, the Goddess of Death,"

"That is an impressive title," Laufey said, sounding mildly perturbed. Loki thought this was probably the best reaction that could be expected.

"It is," Hel agreed. "And now I must introduce my namesake, for we have to discuss raising an army,"

Hel held up an arm and in a burst of silvery-gold light the form of a woman appeared beside her, her pale hand holding onto Hel's blue one. Her long black curls feel in waves to her waist and she regarded them all with piercing green eyes.

Even without Frigga's pained gasp there could be no mistaking the figure standing before them.

It was Hela.

 _ **I hope you all enjoyed that. I would like to clarify that you are meant to be kinda confused (unless you managed to pick up on minute hints and piece them all together and somehow know what's going on), and all will be explained in the next chapter.**_

 _ **Next up: Hel, Hela and Loki take a trip to Helheim to raise an army. Hela explains who she is and her link with Hel.**_

 _ **Until next time!**_


	20. The Helas

_**A/N: What can I say except I'm so incredibly sorry for the delay. I've had essays/exams (I still have one to go; argh!), and this chapter Refused to be written. I did so many rewrites, ugh! (For information about my future update schedule: see the end notes.)**_

 _ **Hel = Loki's daughter. Known as 'Hela' when she was younger.  
Hela = Odin's daughter.**_

 _ **Thank you to everyone who has reviewed (I think I have replied to you all where possible, but I got so behind I am not sure), followed and favourited, you guys really inspired me to work through my writers block and to actually finish this chapter :D**_

 _ **I hope you all enjoy this and everything becomes clear!**_

 _ **03/06/2018**_

 **Chapter Twenty – The Helas**

"I do not understand," Frigga said, echoing Loki's thoughts. "How are you here, how are you grown? Are you alive?"

Hela fixed her with a sad smile, looking as if she were struggling not to cry. If he hadn't been able to see her expression, Loki would have thought she cut a rather imposing figure, standing elegantly in an impressive array of black clothing, a sharp contrast to the snowy landscape of Jotunheim. On her head she wore a tiara of jagged black crystals and the frayed and layered skirts of her dress could be mistaken for rags if it hadn't been clear that they we made of the finest material and artfully arranged.

"It is a complicated story," she replied. "And well, I'm alive, but not in the conventional sense, I suppose... I am here because of Hel, we have a connection because of our powers."

"You were Hel's imaginary friend," Loki stated, all of Hel's odd behaviour suddenly clicking into place. "Whenever she seemed to be talking to air, she was talking to you. You helped to save Fenrir's life."

"I did."

"I am so happy you can see her now!" Hel interjected, throwing her arms around her namesake and grinning. Hela hugged her back. "I was worried you never would! But Hela has grown so much more powerful in the years since I last saw her, and she says that my power has grown too, while I slept, even though I did not age, so now we can talk finally!"

"I am sorry I made Hel keep me a secret, I know you worried at her behaviour, Loki," Hela said. "I feared that if you found out the truth you would want to tell our mother of my existence and then Odin might find you. I wanted to keep you all safe," she grimaced. "I see now that it was all in vain."

"Are you well?" Frigga asked suddenly, looking for all the world as if she wanted nothing more to run to Hela and draw her into an embrace. Loki recognised the look well from whenever he and Thor had returned from a battle or hunt on another realm.

"I am fine," Hela said shortly. "I wish to discuss the support my realm can give you in your fight against the Allfather."

"What support can you give?" Laufey asked, a distrusting edge to his voice.

"An army of the dead."

Everyone looked at her in a stunned silence that was quickly interrupted by Tony.

"Okay Aragorn," he questioned, and Loki forced himself not to grin at Tony's reference, thinking back to the Lord of the Rings marathon that Jane had demanded they hold a week ago. "How exactly are you going to manage that?"

"I believe with my power combined with Hel's and the Casket of Ancient Winters, we should be able to manage it," Hela replied, sounding calm.

"I thought you were not the Goddess of Death?" Frigga asked, her tone growing steadily more hysterical as she continued to speak. "I thought that was Hel's role. And Odin managed to kill you. Yet here you are, fully grown, and now you say you can raise an army of the dead? I do not understand!"

"I suppose I have some explaining to do," Hela grimaced. "I worry we do not have the time. I am not sure how to do so… here, I will show you Helheim," she said and at once an illusion flickered to life around the group, so lifelike that Loki could have believed he was actually there had he not felt the odd snowflake settling on his face.

The most surprising thing, however, was not the power of the illusion - for Hela's skill truly was magnificent, and Loki allowed himself to wonder if he would have ever been able to get this good had he not suppressed his magic for 250 years during his childhood - but what the illusion showed.

They were in a garden filled with flowers and trees that seemed to go on as far as Loki could see, standing on a path made out of a black marble-like rock that glittered in the dappled sunlight. Several groups of peoples from all of the Nine Realms milled about chatting to each other, seemingly content. Hela sat on a throne that appeared to have been made out of bones and might once have struck fear into the hearts of all who saw it, but was now largely covered in moss and ivy, pink flowers woven into the bones that jutted out from the back of the throne. Given the position of his children around Hela, Loki assumed that the throne was really just the edge of the boat.

"So, notice anything strange?" Hela asked.

"This is not a place of depression and torment," Laufey observed, his confusion mirroring Loki's.

"Exactly," Hela replied. "I mean, it was never really that bad in the first place, it was just a place of stagnation and decay, where nothing changed and people went mad with boredom. Plus Lady Death used to enjoy tormenting people to make it a bit less boring… so okay, it was kind of that bad. But I digress…

"When I appeared here, a babe at less than a day old, my soul making my body whole and unmarked again, a Grim Reaper told everyone that Odin had slain me under the misguided impression that I was the Goddess of Death and would bring him ruin. Everyone thought that Odin was just mad. I was just an infant, a fairly unremarkable one at that, one that was due to remain at one day old for all of eternity. Now those who die as children can eventually gain the wisdom of an adult, but for a baby it is pretty much hopeless as no one in Helheim ages.

"Luckily I was taken in by a family who decided to care for me despite the frustration of having a being who would never be able to talk. Soon, however, it became clear that I was aging, and my new family watched in confusion as around me plants began to grow. New life. Soon enough people began to think that Odin was right, I was the Goddess of Death, sent here to save them.

"Lady Death decided to teach me the ways of politics and ruling, and eventually she left the Throne to me and went travelling through various different underworlds. Apparently, this titan called Thanos keeps killing a ton of people in her name and it's the most exciting thing that's happened for centuries."

"Should we be worried about this guy?" Tony interrupted.

Hela shrugged. "Maybe, probably not, he's killing people pretty far away from the Nine Realms. That's why Lady Death had to travel a long way to see him. There are many different underworlds based on spiritual connections. In the case of the Nine Realms we're connected by Yggdrasil and so everyone who dies here either goes to either Helheim, or occasionally Valhalla, when they die. It doesn't mean it's not still crowded, but I guess having multiple underworlds and Lady Deaths is better than only having one for all the life in the universe. _That_ would be chaos."

Hela paused for a second then said heatedly. "Oh, and that reminds me, could you please tell people, especially _Asgardians_ , to stop getting themselves purposefully killed in battle! Because the Old Gods have some kind of weird criteria for Valhalla and it isn't dying in battle, and I am fed up of people getting angry when they end up in Helheim because they're not getting 'the glory they deserve' or whatever. Besides, it's not completely dark and despairing and boring anymore!

"But anyway, that brings me to my last point," Hela said. "Everyone thinks I'm the Goddess of Death, even in Helheim, because my reputation preceded me, but I'm not. I'm the Goddess of Life...look around us, I have turned this from a place of torment and despair and monotony to a real afterlife. People are happy, things are changing, life grows again," she gestured to the illusion of the garden that surrounded them. "There is sunlight, there are seasons, people set up activities and entreprises, and they have fun with their found families. The afterlife is no longer somewhere where souls survive forever, but somewhere in which they live."

"But, if you are the Goddess of Life, why did you die?" Frigga demanded, asking the question that Loki had been wondering about.

"My power to grant life doesn't mean that I'm immortal, especially not at a day old; I had had no chance to develop my powers then. In fact, I think I will probably die in Helheim too, because I am still aging, something that no one's ever managed before, because people's bodies in Helheim are just representations of our souls and you can't kill a soul... usually... and I do not know what will happen to me then.

"But I do feel that Helheim is where I was always meant to be, even if I cannot stay forever. I've had the power to really change things here... and Mother I am sad that I could not spend my childhood with you, but I think maybe killing me might be the best thing Odin has ever done in his miserable, manipulative life.

"Plus, we now how the power to kill him, so there's that too."

-M-

Loki entered the chamber next to the war council, Hela following close behind.

His children sat huddled together, Fenrir talking animatedly to Sleipnir while Hel and Jormungandr seemed to have gone back to their usual pastime of competing to cast the best illusion.

"Are you sure you are ready for this?" Loki asked Hel seriously and the butterfly she had cast flickered out.

"Yes," she nodded earnestly. "It takes both of us to raise the dead and I do not want Odin to send us to sleep again. I know we cannot win against Asgard's army, not without Helheim to help us."

Loki sighed as he swept his daughter into his arms, she should never have had to get involved in this, 156 was too young for fighting in a war. But at the same time, she was right, if they wanted the strength to defeat Odin they needed to do this.

Loki wasn't sure if he wanted to fight Odin, all of this just seemed _wrong_. But he knew that if fighting a war against Asgard in order to protect his children was something he needed to do, he would do it.

Loki turned to look back through the door at Tony, who smirked at him then left the room by another door, presumably off with several of the Frost Giants to see if there was any technology that he was able to repair or modify.

He could see Frigga talking with Laufey, her face pale.

"You should talk to her," he told Hela.

"Yes, but what would I _say_?" Hela replied, pulling her shawl tighter around her and looking pointedly in the opposite direction. "She just looks at me with such guilt when she can even bear to look at me at all! What do I say; that I do not blame her? In truth, I do not, using my magic I've watched you all though the waters of Helheim, and I see that she was a good person, and I am sure she did not have a part in my death. Yet what do I say? She may be my mother biologically, but she did not raise me, she does not know me, there are so many things that I wish to tell her yet I do not know where to start!"

"Hela, you effectively told her your death was for the best. You _need_ to say something. Please." Loki said, looking at her desperately. He doubted Hela had wanted to hurt her but he had seen his mother's expression upon Hela's statement and had watched her sit shakily through the war council.

"Well, you have to look on the bright side of death, don't you?" Hela rolled her eyes dramatically.

At this, Loki could not help but laugh, and he was sure it was the stress of the whole situation exaggerating his response.

Hela huffed. "Fine, I will talk to her, I just…"

"You will figure it out," Loki said. "The two of you are truly very similar, it will work out, you'll see. Even if you cannot see her as your mother…"

"But that's the problem," Hela said. "I can! All my life I have watched her taking care of you and Thor and that's all I dreamed of during my childhood. All I wanted was to somehow have her and you and Thor and my adoptive family from Helheim all living together. Without Odin of course, he did kill me after all, and I know what he did to you..." she trailed off as Loki looked away uncomfortably. "But it's too late, I can never have what I wanted, it will never be as good. So, you see, I have to think that my death was for some higher purpose, or how will I cope?"

Loki wasn't entirely sure that he thought all of that made sense, but he supposed no one's reasoning ever did.

"Perhaps it will not be as good," Loki said slowly. "But it will just be different. If we…" Loki said, before realising that his children were in the room, and correcting himself. " _When_ we win this, you know you are welcome to visit my family on Midgard, whenever you want, and be _visible_ this time."

"Thanks," Hela said, then dropped her tone to a whisper. "And you should know that if any of you do die in this, because Hel and I will not be in any position to work together to save anyone's lives if we are busy summoning the dead, I will make sure you are welcome in Helheim."

"Thank you," Loki said. "Now go speak to mother,"

Hela sighed. "Fine, my adopted 'twin' brother, just for you I will,"

Then she swept dramatically out of the chamber, her long skirts swishing around her, and strode purposefully over to where Frigga and Laufey stood.

Loki smiled as he sat down with his children. Sleipnir leaned into his side and embraced him, clearly trying to reproduce certain sounds to an encouraging Fenrir. Jormungandr crawled into his lap and began to braid Loki's hair, and Loki couldn't help but smile fondly at the look of intense concentration on his face. Hel had fallen asleep and Loki absentmindedly brushed her hair out of her face, calmed by how peaceful she looked.

As he looked back to where Frigga and Hela were embracing he wondered how long this peace was going to last.

 _ **So, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and everything makes sense now!**_

 _ **Next up: Odin arrives with the Asgardian Army.**_

 _ **Honestly, I am not sure when I will be able to update, but just know that I will (If I don't, well, RIP me I guess something happened to my plane :\\). I still have an exam, and after that I am rushing home from uni, seeing my family and a few of my friends for four days before I leave for my summer job in France for three months. The pros of my job in France are that the family I'm staying with speak little English, so I have no fear of writing fanfiction in front of them, the cons are that I am not entirely sure what my schedule will be so either update days will change, or they will be more sporadic. As a side note to this, I have been thinking of writing a fic in French if I get the time, as French is my second language would there be anyone interested in being my beta?**_

 _ **Also, I was bored during revision so I drew both of the Helas, Jormungandr, Fenrir and Sleipnir, and if anyone is interested in how I see them the link is here: docs google com (/) document (/) (d) (/) 1Wm5MVcRYEOdYMj2Djhk1r0MxGyzu1ktnHuGVLlrfF2E**_

 _ **Basically, this story is going to be drawing to an end soon. If you would like to read the sequel there are some ways I think of getting round the fact that you can't make a series here.**_

 _ **-You follow me (feel free to unfollow and just follow the story when I publish the first chapter for the sequel) – the only other story I am writing at the moment is an IW fix it, and that has been pushed to the side as this one is more important and I am busy.**_

 _ **-You send me a PM/review, asking me to PM you when I publish the sequel**_

 _ **-You hope that you see it when scrolling through the Avengers fanfic list**_

 _ **-You could move onto following the story as a series on Ao3, I guess?**_

 _ **I think that's everything...?**_


	21. The Battle of Jotunheim, Part One

_**Brief summary of the story so far, as I've been gone for like 3 months: Odin is an abusive asshole and Loki's known he's a frost giant since childhood. Frigga and Thor have now discovered this, turned against Odin, and are now preparing to fight him and the Asgardian army on Jotunheim. Hela (Frigga's child and the goddess of life) and Hel (Loki's child and the goddess of death) are prepared to summon an army of the dead to help the Jotuns.**_

 _ **I published this as a whole on ao3 – I've actually finished it there, there'll be 2 more chapters after this - but really the chapter was too long, so I'm splitting it up here. The next chapter should come in a few days time.**_

 ** _Thank you guys so much for all the follows and the favourites, and the reviews (though I've already replied to the ones that I can), they've really inspired me to keep going :D_**

 _ **24/08/2018**_

 **Chapter Twenty One – The Battle of Jotunheim, Part One**

Loki stood in the doorway between the war council and the chamber in which the Casket of Ancient Winters was being held, his gaze flicking between where the mages and tacticians debated and where both of the Helas sat unmoving, concentrating on summoning their army of the dead from Helheim.

Hel, currently in the form of a corpse, had her eyes closed and her hand on the edge of the Casket. Hela, lacking Jotun blood and unable to touch the Casket, gripped Hel's other hand, and, as they cast their magic, their powers and those of the Casket combined and lit the room with a strange silvery-gold and blue glow. Despite them having begun the spell not long ago, they already looked weak, and Loki worried. With their spell the soldiers from Helheim could regenerate unlimitlessly after being exposed to something that would have killed an ordinary soldier, in this sense the army from Helheim could probably decimate the Asgardian forces through sheer perseverance, given enough time, but that replied on the Helas having enough energy to keep the spell going, and Loki was unsure that they would. And without the forces from Helheim the battle would be quickly lost.

Fenrir, Jormungandr and Sleipnir sat huddled in a corner of the room watching the proceedings with fearful eyes. Loki sighed and clenched his jaw, wishing he could offer them something more than empty platitudes. Platitudes that he knew his children saw through.

The mages and several politicians and former warriors stood around an illusion of the battlefield; blue for the relatively few Jotun soldiers (if anyone could even call them that, half of them were children or too old to really be able to fight properly), silver for the few thousand of Helheim that had been willing to fight and the Helas had been able to conjure (it wasn't enough, their powers were limited, but it was better than nothing), and gold for the thousands of Asgardians that were now scattered over the icy plains.

"What will be their plan now?" Leif questioned, his serious gaze fixed on Loki.

Loki considered the plan of the battlefield for a moment. "Most of this group will charge our forces head on, but this back section will try to cut round the mountain and attack from behind…that is if the battalion's commander considers it honourable." He paused for a second and looked at several of the mages. "If we rely on brute force we will not win, we are not strong enough, you need to go and confuse the Asgardians if we want to have any chance of surviving this."

"We cannot leave the Casket defenceless," Otur argued. "If we do so there will be no one to protect it if the Asgardian Army arrives."

Loki shook his head. "If you don't leave doubtless they _will_ arrive. How do you propose to defeat the many Asgardians that will remain after having massacred our forces? We would be stronger were most of you to fight with the soldiers, divided we are only easier for them to defeat. Look at how many of us they have slaughtered already." He gestured frantically to the illusion where the blue lights of the Jotuns were steadily blinking out. "If we stand together we might have a chance."

Leif looked worriedly between the two of them. "Laufey said that these mages should stay here to protect the Casket and maintain the illusion of the battlefield," he said diplomatically. "So, for the moment that is what we shall do."

"He doesn't know Asgardians as well as I do, and I am _not_ proposing that we send them all, I am aware that some are needed here," Loki disputed, somewhat surprised in himself for his confidence in himself over such a major decision. Then again, he supposed his children's lives were at stake here, as were the lives of Tony, Thor, Frigga and Laufey, and eventually, if Odin won, so too were the lives of Darcy, Jane and Erik. "Which is precisely why I am here to advise you, and I know we should change our tactics."

"Be that as it may, he is our king," Leif said, with a tone of finality. Unbidden, the memory of Darcy demanding why a king had to know best slipped into his mind. Clearly, democracy did actually have its merits. However, Loki conceded, trying to calm himself down, having a king and a clear hierarchy did mean that decisions could be taken decisively, and everyone could by and large be trusted to work together for the same goal. He grimaced at the thought of the entire army doing what they individually thought best. Besides, Laufey did have more experience in commanding an army and fighting Asgardians than he did (Loki pointedly ignored the fact that the last time Laufey had lost).

"What…" one of the mages exclaimed and Loki turned to see at least two dozen of the golden lights flickering out. "What just happened?"

-M-

Thor flailed as he crashed hard into a snowdrift, his lightning flickering out as he lay there and groaned. Two seconds later he pushed himself up and began scanning the battlefield – people who let fatigue stop them when fighting usually ended up dead. Thor grimaced as his gaze fell on the bodies of a group of Asgardians, people who he once would have fought side by side with. Some of them were, perhaps, alive, but it was clear that others had not been so lucky. Thor grimaced and pushed the thought out of his mind, such was the reality of war, and they were sure to find peace in Valhalla… or Helheim, if Hela was to be believed.

All of this would have been a lot easier had he had his hammer, his flying was haphazard at best (hence the crashing into the snow after he had blasted the Asgardian soldiers) and he found it very difficult to control the strength of the electricity he produced. Once again, Thor cursed Odin for hiding his true magic with the hammer, and wondered why Odin had felt the need to. Probably because Odin could control the hammer too and he hadn't expected Thor to spend so much time away from its magic dampening effect. Thor marvelled at the fact that Odin seemed to have an innate need to control everyone, even him, the formerly perfect heir, and wondered at the fact that he hadn't seen it before.

"Thor!" one of the frost giants cried, waving frantically to him from where he stood with a group of Hela's glowing silvery-gold-blue soldiers. The soldiers were whole, and not the corpses that Thor had expected after seeing Hel's transformation, but they had an eerie feel to them that made Thor inexplicably uncomfortable. Still, he was glad of the help, and liked that if they sustained what would usually be considered to be mortal injuries, they just flickered for a few seconds and came back whole. "We need you behind the mountains!"

Thor set his jaw and allowed his power to wash through him again, launching himself in the air and flying as fast as he could manage in the direction that the frost giant had spoken of. As the lightning crackled through him Thor allowed himself to grin, he had always loved the adrenaline filled thrill of battle and the power now flowing in his veins was incredible. There was no reason he should not be able to protect the ones he cared about today, he just had to focus.

-M-

"What I want to know," Pjetur said to Alfar, one of Asgard's youngest but most promising soldiers, as they scanned the battlefield, "is why we are fighting glowing soldiers, many of whom look like Asgardians, and who bloody refuse to die, and one of which, I'm fairly sure, is my _late uncle_. And why three quarters of the royal family is meant to have committed treason, and now Odin is going to war against them, and the Jotuns, who we had previously made peace with. Also, I would really like to know why I had to arrest Thor's closest friends earlier today, and some clarification as to why we are going to die in this war!"

"It is not our place to question the Allfather," Alfar said uncomfortably, glancing around at the other nearby soldiers. "He wants us at war and we should accept it."

 _But should we?_ he wondered. It was, of course, the natural way of things to accept the commands of the Allfather without question, but, privately, he thought that if they were going to die, he would rather like to know why, and he would like to feel that they were fighting for a monarch whose ideals he could agree with. And honestly, with all the odd rumours and Odin's behaviour, he wasn't sure he was fighting for a cause he was willing to die for. Still, there wasn't anything he could do about that, was there?

-M-

"127…" Tony muttered as the latest Asgardian fell victim to a repulsor blast. "128…130." Tony grimaced as the Asgardian slammed into two others and they fell into what might potentially be a deep ravine, though he couldn't tell from where he was. Both Thor and Frigga had been very adamant that if at all possible, they shouldn't needlessly kill Asgardian warriors. After all, if they did manage to kill Odin (it would now, apparently, be acceptable to do so in the eyes of the rest of the Nine Realms as they were at war), they still wanted a shot at the Asgardian throne, and extreme resentment from those whose friends and family had died would not help matters. So, the aim was not to kill the Asgardians, but to disable them, or to make it harder for them to kill the Jotuns.

Still, Tony couldn't exactly feel bad about sometimes killing the soldiers, after all, the less soldiers there were, the less that would make it to the war council and try to harm Loki and his children. Besides, he had been trying his best, the bullets and missiles were being reserved for Odin (and was he pointedly ignoring that they had done nothing last time? Yes he was), because who knew, they might do something this time. Frigga had said that he wouldn't use the Odinforce in battle, as he would lose credibility with his army. And given that Odin had only seemed to be slicing through people with a sword the last time Tony had seen him, he supposed this was true. Then again, however famous a warrior Odin was, he was still an old man, and it was surprising he was still alive, so perhaps he was trying to use the Odinforce without the knowledge of his soldiers, or perhaps the soldiers were doing a good enough job at protecting him by slaughtering every Jotun in their path.

Tony zoomed through the air towards a large group of Asgardian soldiers that was in the process of completely decimating a group of perhaps three dozen Jotuns and several glowing soldiers from Helheim. He dived down, forcing them to scatter and he began to pick them off one by one. "135, 136…"

As he dived out of the way of an arrow and spun around to take out its owner he allowed himself to breathe, Loki and the kids would be fine, everything would be okay, he would get back home. This was easy, he just had to focus, to get into a routine, this was nothing he hadn't done before (admittedly, on a smaller scale, but no matter). He allowed his rage at Odin and the entirety of Asgard for screwing up Loki's life to drive him on as he blasted two more away from several young frost giants.

Suddenly, the sound of the Bifrost rent the air and Tony turned to see hundreds more soldiers pouring out of the rainbow bridge.

Okay…so maybe they wouldn't be fine.

-M-

Frigga looked across at where Laufey was ploughing through the newly arrived Asgardian soldiers with his ice blade and sighed. Laufey clearly wasn't in agreement with her plan of not unnecessarily harming Asgardians, but small blame to him. Asgard had been slowly killing his people over centuries, and as Frigga incapacitated a soldier she wondered what the plan would cost her son and her grandchildren if they reached the council chamber. Surely, killing was quicker. But no, they had to think long term, they had to have an end planned, or who knew what could happen in the future?

Laufey, staining the white snow red, was surely in his element, and had Frigga not lived in a warrior society for the duration of her marriage, or felt the same rage at the thought of Odin's treatment of her son, perhaps she would have been terrified, but as it was she was glad to have him on her side. The two of them had considered staying in the council chamber and directing the battle from there, but Laufey had wanted to lead his people and have a chance of killing Odin, and Frigga knew how to fight and she knew how to fight well, especially with her magic, and she would be damned if she let her skill go to waste. They had both decided to leave Loki in charge of the council chamber, after all, he understood Asgardian tactics better than the frost giants did, and, having no magic himself and wanting to protect his children, he was unwilling to fight on the battlefield, not that either of them wanted him there in the first place.

"Listen to me!" she said to the Asgardian soldier opposite her. "Odin has gone mad, you must-"

"You have no right to command me," the soldier snarled. "It is clear to me that it is you and your sons who are the mad ones."

-M-

"Please," Thor begged, keeping the Asgardian soldiers at bay with random bursts of lightning, only some of which were intentional. "If you would just listen to me! Odin has gone mad, he no longer has the best interests of Asgard at heart, he would destroy us!"

"Yet you fight for the frost giants," one of the soldiers said coldly, not seeming to care about wiping off the blood that was dripping from his sword. "So who is the real traitor?"

"You have heard of what he has done, have you not?" Thor demanded.

"Oh, I have heard the rumours, one of which being that Prince Loki is a frost giant. So, tell me, _my prince_ , do you really want me to believe in them?"

-m-

Alfar stared at Thor as the recently disowned heir to the throne looked like he was struggling to make a decision as to how to respond to Alfar's shield brother, Dyri. The obvious thing to do would be to deny the accusation that Loki was a frost giant, after all, how could he be, and why would he be? But… Thor's lack of answer seemed to imply that Loki was one.

Alfar frowned. It made no sense, the second prince was perhaps the least frost giant-like man he had ever met. He wasn't very Asgardian either, but that was besides the point. He hadn't seen Loki except from at a distance for years, but when he had been younger Loki had sometimes trained with the other boys. In contrast to being savagely murderous and violently stupid, Loki had always been timid and quiet, listening attentively to their instructors and often failing to fight properly with the other boys, looking paranoid when he gave them perfectly reasonable injuries for sword practice, which was particularly strange due to Loki's own abnormally high pain tolerance. At the start, Alfar had been prepared to brush it off. He had once pretended to attack Loki with his sword after defeating the prince and Loki had thrown him away from him with his magic. Though fighting using magic wasn't honourable, neither was attacking them after they had been disarmed, so he had assured him it was fine (doing his best to ignore Loki's bizarre incessant apologies) and walked away. Perhaps he would have thought no more on the matter, but Loki was always this way, scared, and he and the other boys had had to admit that despite Loki being a prince and the fact that you should never speak ill of the royal family, that Loki was just weird.

Perhaps this un-frost giant-like behaviour had been a deliberate attempt to hide what he was, or perhaps it proved that Thor had been right about the frost giants in his speeches, that they weren't really as bad as the stories said they were. But how had Odin not known that he had a frost giant for a son? It would have been impossible for him not to have known. So what, therefore, had Odin been up to in claiming that Loki was a part of their family? Whatever it was, Odin was clearly unstable, and Alfar thought that perhaps they would be right to doubt him. Who in their right mind hid a frost giant, who wasn't even a very good frost giant, in their midst?

Alfar had once doubted the rumours, but now he felt that Odin was perhaps unstable enough to have killed his second born, and to have imprisoned Loki's children and to have harmed Frigga, which Dyri had pointed out, wasn't technically illegal. Alfar had said that that was besides the point, if it were true, it was wrong, and furthermore she was the Queen.

"My brother… is a frost giant… yes," Thor said slowly, and Alfar's eyes widened.

"Which is precisely why the Allfather was right in banishing him, and we cannot trust you if you see one of _them_ as your brother," Dyri snarled.

"The Allfather banished him for a war I started, because he could not see past his hatred for the son that he stole from Jotunheim to cover up for the fact that he had just murdered my newborn sister. Do you not doubt his sanity?"

"I do," Alfar said, swallowing as Dyri spun round to face him.

"You would believe this traitor, who sides with our enemy?"

Alfar glared at him. "They would not be our enemy if the Allfather had let them keep the Casket and allowed us to improve the relations started by the Queen."

"The Jotuns are not worthy to own such a treasure."

"How do we know what they are worthy of?" Alfar demanded, wondering how he dared to speak these treasonous words aloud. "Thor's speeches, they made sense. All we have heard for centuries is a truth twisted to make it more palatable – yes, the frost giants did not do what was right, but neither did we. And we cannot forget the millennia before the war in which the relations between our realms were good. Our history has been controlled by the man who murdered his child, we must _at least_ question its validity."

"And how do we know he did so, because the former prince _said so_?" Dyri asked, and Thor emitted more sparks. Alfar had no idea how he was doing so without Mjolnir but he supposed that was a question for another day.

"I think that some the rumours of what the Allfather has done are true," a young member of the Einherjar spoke up, and Alfar noted how carefully he was speaking in order to make it seem as though he were not afraid. "Yesterday I saw Thor running through the castle with a girl on his shoulders. She had black hair and green eyes, like Loki does. It seems reasonable that she could be his daughter."

"Yes, that is his daughter, Hel," Thor confirmed. "The Allfather locked Hel and her siblings away for many centuries as he feared their magic."

"Surely that means that their magic should be feared?" someone else shouted.

"No, I do not think it does… as I do not think the Allfather's judgement is always wise," Solvin, an older soldier and one of Alfar's mentors, spoke up. Everyone's gaze was trained on him but Solvin stared stoically at the man who Alfar presumed had just spoken. "I was once on duty in the corridor outside the Allfather's chambers and though I could not hear all of what was said, I could hear Loki screaming and begging and the Allfather said something about informing the Queen and Loki fell silent. I was not sure what to think of it at the time, but I did not feel that I understood this situation, nor that I could do anything, I confess that I walked further along the corridor as I did not want to hear more, telling myself that it was normal for a father to punish his disobedient child."

"You think that the Allfather was holding the knowledge of Loki's birth over his head?" Alfar asked. And perhaps it was too soon to jump to conclusions, but that was the logical explanation, was it not?

"Perhaps," Solvin said lightly. "Whatever the situation I do not think he treated Loki well. Whenever I saw the prince afterwards he always looked composed, but he never seemed to act naturally around his own father, and I always thought that something was not right."

"You think he _mistreated_ the frost giant?" Dyri mocked.

Solvin licked his lips before speaking, clearly as nervous as Alfar was; discussing the Allfather like this was undoubtedly treason. "I am fairly certain of it. And he might be frost giant, but does that automatically mean that he deserved it?"

"They killed my brother-in-law not half an hour ago!" someone from further back in the crowd snapped. "They are _beasts_. Whatever our King did, Loki deserved it."

"I am sure," Solvin said, with the air of someone who had much experience, and Alfar supposed he did, having fought in the original war with Jotunheim. "That your brother-in-law would have wanted to kill them with as much vigour as they did him. That being said, I am sorry for your loss, Vottur."

Thor spoke for the first time in a while, and Alfar found he had almost forgotten the prince had been standing there, sending out short bursts of lightning whenever anyone got too close. "So," he asked. "Will any of you join my mother and I? We must stop Odin, before he does anything worse."

"I will," Alfar said immediately. Because he didn't understand everything, but what Thor said made more sense that what the Allfather did, and if he were to die for something it may as well be something he thought to be true. Besides, he had already committed treason by insulting the Allfather, so why not go all the way?

"And I," Solvin said.

Quickly the ranks became a disorganised mess as various soldiers backed towards Thor and away from their previous comrades, swords raised against one another.

Alfar's eyes met Dyri's through the increasing chaos of the battalion. His eyes were hard and determined and Alfar smiled slightly in regret. He may never have agreed with some of Dyri's views, but he had always been someone with whom he could share a pint with and play cards at the end of a long day, a friend he could count on to make him laugh.

"You should flee," Thor advised those still on Odin's side.

"No," he could see Dyri say amongst the incredulous voices. Alfar was glad that Thor had given them all a chance though, even though their honour demanded that they could never have taken it, it made him feel slightly better about what he was about to do.

 _So be it,_ he thought, as the regiment turned in on itself and his sword clashed against those he had once considered to be shield brothers.

-M-

Loki watched the illusion closely, his jaw clenched, a wriggling Fenrir clutched to his chest. The atmosphere in the room had grown increasingly tense since a group of about fifty Asgardians had managed to break through the ranks of the dead that surrounded the building and had started to close in.

"Maybe we should have sent the mages," Leif said quietly. Loki chose not to comment, there was no use assigning blame now.

"Fenrir, go into the other room and stay with your siblings, keep yourself cloaked as I taught you," he said firmly, placing him down on the ground.

"No!" Fenrir said. "No, I do not want to, I want to stay with you father, I-"

"Yes, but you are not _safe_ with me," Loki said firmly. "Perhaps, if you are quiet and invisible, they will not think to look for you."

Fenrir looked conflicted and Loki tried to keep the panic out of his eyes, he really could not afford this now. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Sleipnir waving shakily at them in order to get their attention and he turned so Fenrir could see him too. "Look, Fenrir, Sleipnir doesn't know how to do the protection spells, go and keep him company, and keep him safe."

"No!"

"Come on Fenrir!" Jormungandr moaned. "I want you to stay with us and so does Sleipnir… I think," he added after a pause. Sleipnir nodded enthusiastically. "See, he wants you to stay!"

"Fine," Fenrir muttered, and Loki walked over and placed him down next to Sleipnir and Jormungandr.

"You will be fine, keep yourselves hidden, I love you," Loki said seriously, and swept them into a hug. Then he quickly got up to speak to the others in the next room. When he looked back the three of them were no longer visible.

"Give me some knives," Loki ordered.

"What?" Leif said, clearly shocked. Loki didn't have time for this.

"I may not have magic, but I want to defend myself and my children, I want to defend all of us, and I know how to use knives."

"Could we not ask the Helas to send us more of the dead here?" one of the politicians asked nervously. "Surely that would work?"

"I don't think they're aware of what's going on," Loki said grimly, glancing over to where he could see Hel shaking and Hela looking tense and swaying where she sat. He wanted to stop them, to help them, but he felt that breaking the connection would have worse consequences than magical exhaustion. "I think they are using all their energy just to keep the connection between the two worlds open and I am unwilling to try to communicate with them and accidently loose the connection. That is, until I am sure that there is no other way."

"Here," Leif said grimly, handing Loki some of his own daggers. "Try not to do anything too reckless."

 _ **So, there it is, I hope you guys enjoyed!**_

 _ **Next up: Odin gets what he deserves ;) and everyone is badass**_


	22. The Battle of Jotunheim, Part Two

_**So, what's this, a chapter mere days after I'd posted the last one! (Hoping that I'm gonna be back to frequent updates now)**_

 _ **Thank you guys all so much for all the follows, favourites and reviews, they all mean so much!**_

 _ **28/08/2018**_

 **The Battle of Jotunheim – Part Two**

Laufey stood five feet away from Odin and looked him dead in the eye. Odin stared back, a wild sort of malice in his gaze. The undead, Jotun, and Asgardian soldiers fought on around them, clearly not daring to intervene and take away their leaders' respective kills. Interestingly, Laufey noted, some Asgardians seemed to be fighting with his soldiers. Perhaps Frigga's plan was working? But enough of that.

"You took my son from me," he stated, his voice cold.

"You abandoned him in a temple, he was left to die, I saved his life."

Laufey scoffed, Odin was clutching at thin air and he knew it.

"Say what you like to reassure your men," Laufey sneered. "But we both know that you slew half the force I left protecting him.

"And for what?" he asked, keeping his tone light, but making it clear he already knew the answer to his question. "Frigga tells me it was to cover up for the murder of your second born?"

"She was fated to destroy Asgard, was I not right to do so?" Odin spat and Laufey reflected that it was interesting that he wasn't choosing to deny it. Maybe he thought the rumours had spread too far to cover up and had decided to put his own spin on it?

"You brought that on yourself with your own actions," Laufey said coldly. "And before I kill you I would like you to know that I was planning on killing you for what you did to my people, destroying us slowly over a thousand years, but now it will be for what you did to my son."

"I raised him as a prince, to bring about a lasting peace between our two realms, I fail to see exactly what I've done wrong," Odin said in the superior tone that only he, the 'protector' of the Nine Realms, could manage.

Laufey stared at him for a second, suddenly wondering why on earth his rival would admit to keeping a frost giant in the castle, let alone raising one as his son. From a quick glance at the soldiers fighting around them, clearly some of the Asgardians were thinking the same thing.

"So he would be what, a puppet king on the Throne of Jotunheim, loyal to you but my people would be honour bound to obey him after you had disposed of me? Where does that fit in with your plan to slowly annihilate us?"

Odin looked at him stonily, without a hint of regret. Laufey had thought it impossible to hate Odin any more than he already did, but, it turned out that he could. "Your people have some uses."

"For what?" Laufey demanded, his eyes narrowing. Odin said nothing but Laufey's brain worked quickly. Odin wanted them to die out, but he also had a back up plan for if that didn't. Why? "I suppose some of the realms might have been displeased had they found out your plan to kill us all… that, I suppose, is why you wanted to do it slowly… naturally, to let us die slowly in our own realm. It is less suspicious that way…"

Laufey blinked in surprise, it had been speculation, a stab in the dark, but Odin's expression confirmed his theory. Laufey almost allowed himself a small smile, he had always hoped that perhaps Jotunheim still had people they could count as allies, but the bitter, cynical part of him had always believed that this could not be the case, that everyone must know what was happening to his people and have agreed to it.

"And if they _had_ found out what was happening to our realm, if they had felt sympathy, what would you have done then? Killed me, claiming it was my fault my realm had fallen into chaos? Placed Loki on the throne, your puppet king, and then exerted your influence? You could have done anything, the barest minimum, controlled my people, and others would have hailed you as the saviour of Jotunheim.

"You could have done anything to my people, you could have used them, you could have stripped Jotunheim of any of its remaining resources and people would say you were merciful, would they not, for giving us a chance, for saving us from extinction?"

Odin studied him and Laufey gazed back defiantly. "You are more intelligent than I give you credit for."

"Well," Laufey said pointedly. "I suppose that is what you get for believing your own propaganda. And what did you keep Loki for? Other than maybe having to use him as a puppet king he cannot have been very useful to you. So, what was he? A convenient, helpless child to exercise your power over, to take your anger out on?"

"That, and Frigga was ridiculously attached to the brat," Odin snapped, seeming to get a thrill out of admitting his feelings to someone. A part of Laufey wondered if that was wise. "She seems to become distraught without him for a reason I have never been able to comprehend. She was a wreck after Hela died before I placed him in her arms, and then she was always fussing over him, and expected me to too, despite the fact that she knew what he was. When he went missing for almost two hundred years she never stopped talking about him, searching for him. Banishing Loki was clearly a mistake, I should have known she would have reacted as she did, that I would have no longer been able to control the situation." He paused, then added. "Honestly, it was rather odd, she cared so much about him and yet she never saw what was happening under her very nose…"

Laufey chose to ignore the comment, being already aware at what Odin had done, and not wishing to lose his carefully maintained control. You couldn't win a war by fighting your enemy in crazed fury. He couldn't let Odin goad him into doing so. "Yes, why did you banish him when everyone knows it was Thor that started the coming war?" he said instead.

"It would have been more convenient to fight a war with Thor by my side, and I wanted Loki's heritage to only come to light when it was convenient-"

"When you could place him on the throne as a puppet king."

"Precisely," Odin said. "It would have been much easier to place Loki on the throne and your kind would have been much easier to control were many of you to have been killed in a war. Unfortunately, the timing could have been better, and I will now have to kill your son, he has been most inconvenient lately."

"And if many of us had died in the war how would the other realms have known how many of us had died over the past millennia," Laufey stated.

"I could not have put it better," Odin said. It was at this point that Laufey became certain that Odin had forgotten that his people were surrounding them, or at the very least that some of his people were capable of compassion for those other than Asgardians. The things he had admitted to could no longer be classed as him putting a positive spin on his decisions. Laufey wondered if he just wanted to feel power, to boast to his enemy before defeating him. He was sure that even if he himself did not get his revenge, even if Odin killed him, Odin would have less people on his side than he did before. It seemed clear, with the amount of infighting that was now occurring between the Asgardians around them, that he was alienating his supporters with his words.

"I am going to kill you," Laufey said.

"I doubt that," Odin replied. "I think you will find that I am very hard to kill with the Odinforce an integral part of me."

"You fight for yourself, I fight for my people, for my son."

"Your son," Odin scoffed. "You care so much for a boy you never knew. He brings only ruin, but I suppose a Jotun might be excused for loving such a child."

"The only ruin you have faced you have brought upon yourself. Do not blame Loki for it."

"How so?" Odin asked coldly. "If not for him, his daughter, the real Goddess of Death would never have been born, the child who I presume is at this moment responsible for these aberrations you use as soldiers. If not for her existence I would never have had the vision that told me a child named Hela related to me would be my death, my undoing, and would bring the fall of my kingdom."

"And yet," Laufey stated. "If you had not listened to your visions and had not killed your own daughter, you would have had no reason to steal Loki and he would have grown up here. He would never have had his child. Your hateful actions would not have turned your family against you. You brought this on yourself. And you know this to be true." He studied Odin for a second. "And that is another reason why you hate him so much, because you know Hel would never have been born without your influence, and you hate yourself, but you can't bear the realisation. Loki is, undoubtedly, a convenient scapegoat."

In that moment Laufey was sure that Odin would have flown at him with his sword had a ripple of confusion not sounded about them as all of Hela's soldiers abruptly vanished.

-M-

Loki breathed deeply as he stood in front of the sole door that separated them from the Asgardian soldiers, trying to steady his racing heart. He clutched one of Leif's knives in each hand and stared intently at the door, not daring to look behind him to check on Hel again. She had been looking increasingly ill in the past hour and Loki wasn't sure how much longer she would last.

There came a surprised yell from one of the frost giants behind him and Loki spun round, almost letting the knife fly before he realised who had just appeared behind him. Frigga. She nodded at Loki before striding over to the Helas. Loki's mind flared in panic as she reached out to grab both of their shoulders.

"What are you doing?" Loki demanded. "If you break the connection we'll lose all of Hela's soldiers! We have no chance without them, none at all! Not to mention what might happen to you, or them, if-"

He gave a strangled cry as Frigga grabbed the two goddesses and pulled them away from the Casket and Loki knew that his mother or no, if he had had his magic right then he would not have been able to control it.

"Laufey has Odin," Frigga said, her voice set. "We have a chance to kill him. We will end this. Hela told me that we need their powers, she believes that there is no other way to defeat the Odinforce. Stay here, protect everyone here. I am sorry…"

"What…" Hel demanded, opening her eyes sleepily and looking around the room, her gaze unfocused.

"No!" Loki yelled and threw himself at Frigga.

The next second he found himself standing in an icy wasteland, the wind whipping through his hair, the sound of the battle raging around him.

"I _refuse_ to let my daughter face Odin alone," he said heatedly.

Frigga nodded in pained acquiescence and allowed Hel to rush into Loki's arms. As he held her tightly he realised that in his efforts to protect Hel (which would be completely futile, he didn't even have his magic and he'd dropped one of the daggers before he had grabbed Frigga) he had left his other children completely alone, with the Asgardian army on their doorstep no less. His heart turned to ice. He could not regret his decision to not abandon Hel, but what had he done?

"Frigga, Loki," Odin's voice rang out and Loki spun around, clutching Hel tighter to him. "I wonder what you hope to accomplish here, against me, with your monstrous daughter and... who might this be?" Odin demanded, gesturing at Hela grandly, and making it clear that he still felt that he was in control.

"Don't you recognise me, father?" Hela demanded coldly, completely composed despite how draining the spell that conjured the souls from her realm must have been and having been thrust out of it mere seconds earlier.

Odin swallowed, and Loki thought, that for the first time, he was nervous.

He gave a short laugh. "No, no, this is a trick," he said. "You've lost all of your monstrous soldiers and so you decide to do this to undermine me. Well, let it be known, it will not work, I am above such things and you, all of you, are nothing against my might."

"Oh, but Hel and I were the ones that brought the soldiers forth from my realm, from Helheim." Hela said. "Do you think Hel could have done that all on her own?"

"But they no longer exist, your powers are depleted."

"Oh no," Hela assured him. "We only stopped them so we could come and kill you."

"No, what is this, this is madness, no, this changes nothing," Odin said, the crazed look in his eyes again. "You can do nothing against me, not after everything I have done…"

"I am sorry," Loki heard Frigga whisper beside him as Hela yelled:

"Now!"

Suddenly both of the goddesses of life and death were shooting beams of what Loki could only assume to be pure power at Odin. He held Hel in his arms as she glowed with a silvery light that made her corpse form seem almost ethereal. Even without his own magic Loki could taste the magic in the air, it seemed to him to be less strong than it had when they had fought Angrboda but he was sure that if his senses had been working properly it would have felt far stronger than it had done on that day. Like the last time he could feel it; the power, the inevitability, the certainty of death.

Loki watched with an odd mix of disbelief, fascination and horror as Odin looked shocked and seemed to crumple.

His adoptive father looked around in uncharacteristic panic before his expression turned to that of one of determination and he shot out his hand in the direction of the elder Hela, and Loki was simultaneously terrified for her and glad she was standing a few feet away and Odin had deemed her the most powerful of the two so that his daughter was temporarily safe. These feelings were, however, remarkably short lived as it became clear to everyone in the vicinity, partly due to Odin's expression, partly from the lack of harm befalling Hela, that his magic, the _Odinforce_ , wasn't working.

The cries about them grew louder and Loki turned his head to see several dozen Asgardians rushing towards the group, all thoughts of leaving their king to fight honourably apparently forgotten (and small blame to them, Loki thought, they vastly outnumbered Odin and they were using magic) with the realisation that Odin was now in very real danger.

Before he could worry about the threat that the group posed a golden shield appeared around them, and Loki recognised it as Frigga's magic. The soldiers battered on the golden barrier but Loki paid them no mind, his attention now fixed fully on Odin. The shield would hold.

"No," Odin cried, brandishing his sword and looking around wildly. "No, this cannot happen. Not after everything I have done, you will not be the end of me. The prophecy will not come true, I will not let it!"

"I had thought I had made it clear that you brought this on yourself," Laufey said, lunging forward with his ice-blade and knocking the sword out of Odin's shaking grip after a few desperate and badly parried blows from the Allfather. "This is for my son."

And with this pronouncement Laufey plunged his blade through Odin's heart.

Time seemed to stop as Loki watched the light die in Odin's eyes and he saw him slump onto the blade, lifeless. He was only vaguely aware that he was screaming as he clutched Hel to him but saw nothing but his adoptive father's body falling into the snow.

As if in a dream he let Hela pry his daughter from his arms and he rushed over to the Allfather's body. Odin's eyes were wide, and still, and staring, and Loki continued to scream, tears streaming down his face as he clutched his armour.

This was wrong, this was all wrong, a man such as Odin should never have had to die, not least killed in protection of him, he wasn't worthy of that. And yet… he couldn't let go of the overwhelming feeling that he was free, that he was safe (deserving of this safety or not) and his family was safe, that Odin could never hurt them again.

As he knelt down beside his adoptive father he cursed him for everything he had ever done, and he cursed the circumstances that had led to this.

"It's okay, Loki," Tony said, resting a metal hand on his shoulder, and Loki briefly wondered where he had come from, and when he had arrived, before turning around and throwing his arms around his neck. It was perhaps not as comfortable as he would have liked, but he supposed that couldn't be helped. He had Tony, who was like an anchor in a storm, things were going to be alright. "It's okay."

His gazed flickered around and came to a rest on Frigga, still and unmoving, silent tears running down her face, and he understood her pain. He looked further to the soldiers that surrounded the dome, Asgardian and Jotun alike, bloody and exhausted, and standing around looking lost.

Because what would happen now?

Loki took a shaky breath and leant back to where he could see Tony, who smiled reassuringly at him, and he knew that whatever happened, he would be okay, he could face it, because he wasn't alone.

 _ **So, I hope you were all satisfied with that :D**_

 _ **Next up: The final chapter: everyone is back on earth and happy, happy, happy :)**_

 _ **The chapter afterwards: an extract from the sequel.**_

 _ **The extract from the sequel will be posted at the same time as the first chapter of the sequel. That way you can just go onto my profile, click the story and continue reading. Alternatively, if you're not good at checking emails, and don't want to accidently miss the sequel, you could temporarily subscribe to me.**_

 _ **That's all, I think. Until next time!**_


	23. An End

**_Okay, so apparently I am a complete idiot and in coming here to upload the sequel, realised I'd forgotten to upload the final chapter of this for over a month. I genuinely thought I'd done it! *facepalms* In my defense, I uploaded this to ao3 with my phone as I had no internet at that point...so I guess I just said that was stressful, I'll do it later and then didn't due to the stress of moving back to England from France? In any case, sorry, and I hope you guys are still interested in this!_**

 ** _I'm not sure if I've replied to everyone that reviewed last chapter, if I haven't I'll do that quickly after I upload._**

 ** _Summary of last chapters: Odin is dead, Hel (Loki's daughter), Hela (Odin's daughter) and Laufey killed him during a battle on Jotunheim. Now everyone just wants to go back home._**

 ** _This is the last chapter. However I'll be posting half of the first chapter of the next story when I post the next story to make it easier for you guys to find the sequel._**

 ** _Thank you guys for all the follows, favourites and reviews! You're all amazing!_**

 ** _14/10/2018_**

 **Chapter Twenty Three - An End**

"The takeout delivery guy's crossed the perimeter," Loki said absentmindedly as he spun Jormungandr around on his shoulders, the spells he had placed on the perimeter of the property informing him of their new arrival.

"Finally!" Darcy said, rolling her eyes and jumping up from the couch. "You wanna come fetch the takeout with me Sleipnir?"

Sleipnir said something that was definitely meant to be 'yeah' (and Loki's heart leapt for joy while Fenrir gave an encouraging woof) and scampered after her to the door.

"Take my wallet and tip him a few hundred for not saying anything about me having company that isn't supermodels," Tony called.

"Will do!"

"I am very much looking forward to tasting your favourite Midgardian cuisine, brother," Thor said from where he was wrestling with a playfully growling Fenrir in his wolf form. "I hope I like it as much as 'pizza'."

"Well, Tony ordered everything off the menu from the Chinese place," Loki said casually, but Thor's use of the word 'brother' was not lost on him. Thor had been saying it more often than ever before, as if he wanted to reassure Loki that nothing had changed between them. If Loki were honest, Thor doing his best to be kind and attentive and thoughtful, and naming Frigga Regent before almost fleeing to earth to live with Loki and the others, made that very evident, but it would be wrong to say that he did not appreciate the gesture. "So I expect you shall find something you like," he finished.

The next second Hel came racing into the room, numerous plastic bags containing boxes of takeout floating behind her. Sleipnir followed close behind, a plastic bag in each hand. "Look everybody, look what I can do!" she called.

"Yes, that's brilliant magic, Hel," Loki said as kindly as he could manage, shooting Tony (who was laughing and applauding) a panicked glance before adding, "do you think you could put them down on the table?"

"I'll go give him a prepaid credit card," Tony told him, getting up off the couch and striding over to the door where Darcy could be heard telling blatant lies to the presumably very freaked-out delivery guy.

"This is because Midgardians are meant to believe that magic does not exist, is it not?" Thor demanded, looking mournfully at the mound of packaged food.

Loki grimaced, no way would that feed all of them and Thor, but he supposed he could order a pizza if he got hungry later, or see if there was anything worth cooking in the kitchen. Loki stilled for a moment, and Jormungandr tugged painfully on his hair, demanding that Loki continue running around. Sometimes it just hit him that maybe he was getting better, just a bit, that here his automatic response to thinking he would be hungry was that he had the right to just eat if he wanted to, that he didn't have to just deal with the feeling for as long as possible before he finally risked eating in the same room as Odin.

"Loki?" Thor said, and Loki jumped and gasped, startling Jormungandr who yelled and pulled harder on Loki's hair to stop himself falling. So, maybe he still had a long way to go, but no matter, he would get there.

"Yes, for them it's completely fictional… which reminds me, I must show you 'Harry Potter'" he said, setting Jormungandr down beside the other children. Fenrir immediately bounded over and started licking the boy, much to Jormungandr's delight.

"What is…"

"It is a sort of play, that they replicate multiple times and display on a screen, like a sort of moving painting," Loki explained, and thankfully Thor looked slightly less confused. "Come, let's set the table," he added and was glad to see that though Thor didn't seem thrilled by the idea he had now accepted that he would have to do work that was generally considered to be reserved for servants.

As Loki summoned the plates, glasses and cutlery from the kitchen to the newly bought table that stood in the corner of the living room, he revelled in being able to use his magic again. In his confusion and grief it has taken him a while to realise that Odin's spell blocking his magic had ended upon his death. Now he used magic as much as possible, partly because having it back was the most wonderful feeling, partly because it would have made Odin furious. He was free, he could do things like this now. When the idea of going against Odin's will, even after his death, make him panicky, usually he managed to push through it and do more magic out of sheer resolve, knowing he had the support of his friends and family.

"Could you four go and fetch Jane and Erik please?" Loki asked the children after glancing over at them. Sleipnir had seemed to be staring at him like he wanted to be useful and help with the table, but Loki knew that if he let him the others would want to help too. Some disaster would surely befall them if all of them _and_ Thor tried to help. Thankfully, they all obligingly raced off down the stairs, screaming and pushing each other to be the first one through the lab doors.

Loki set to work getting the various boxes of food out of the bags whilst Thor set plates, glasses and cutlery out in each respective place. "Brother, what are these?" he asked, holding up several chopsticks.

"They're called chopsticks, Midgardians like to eat Chinese with them," Loki explained.

"Is it not easier to just use a spoon?" Thor questioned, holding one in each hand and looking between them thoughtfully.

"Easier for us perhaps, and you can use one if you want, Jane and Erik can never be bothered and I'm certainly not letting my children use them – I don't want more food everywhere – but it is undeniably more fun to try to use them," Loki replied. "And if you want to show more interest in the different cultures of Midgard I think it would be a good skill to master."

Thor nodded. "Then I shall try," he said. "Though you shall have to show me how."

They spent the next few minutes in a comfortable silence, and Loki reflected that he could never have believed himself to be so content alone in a room with Thor. There were no more secrets; that was good.

"You guys are incredible ordering all of this, I didn't even realise I was this starving!" Jane exclaimed, entering the room followed by Erik and the kids.

"Well, you have been working since 8 this morning," Loki replied. "-Fenrir, your brother is sitting there, please find another chair - did you not eat while we were out at the zoo?"

"I did try to remind them," Jarvis said. "Dr Selvig put me on mute."

Loki rolled his eyes, unsure why he had even bothered asking.

"Is it going well though?" he asked, shovelling noodles onto the children's plates, and looking over at Jane, noting that Thor had sat himself down next to her, looking a bit unsure of himself.

On the subject of which, Loki had been incredibly surprised to see that from their first meeting Thor and Jane had immediately hit it off, openly flirting with each other and sending longing looks when they thought the other person wasn't looking. Loki wasn't sure what exactly he had expected Thor and Jane's friendship to be like, he had even been unsure if they would be friends. Jane, enthusiastic and 'nerdy', certainly wasn't a warrior or a ravishingly beautiful maiden, but apparently she had caught Thor's eye despite that. And he certainly hadn't expected Thor to be Jane's type either. But he supposed that meant that he had more to learn about the two of them. "Don't worry," Erik had assured him several days ago, shooting Thor his characteristic suspicious glance (Loki was glad that Erik's suspicions were now fixed on his brother instead of him). "You and Tony weren't this obnoxious."

"Oh yes, it's going well," Jane said enthusiastically, spooning some sweet and sour pork onto her plate and then offering some to Thor. "The books you brought back from Odin's personal library have been incredibly helpful. Though I'm sure nothing would have gone wrong had we used our prototype, this now allows us to be so much more accurate with our calculations. I really think if Tony can finally come to an agreement with SHIELD we should have the second E-R bridge finished to a good standard and able to take us not only between realms, but also far away in our own one, within a few months."

Loki grinned. "That's excellent news! I promise I'll help soon, I just…"

"No, Loki, it's fine, you've already done so much, translating the books for us, you want to spend time with your kids, and that's fine," Erik said, and Loki relaxed and smiled at him in thanks.

"Uncle Erik," Hel, who, along with the other kids had decided that Erik, Darcy and Jane were worthy of being family members, said seriously. "Did you know that Zebras can…"

Loki smiled as he half-listened to his kids reeling off information (most of which was correct) that they had learned from Jarvis and from their trip to the zoo that day.

Jarvis, as part of his self-appointed duty of giving the kids (and Thor) a good education on the subject of the entirety of Midgard, had taken to projecting holograms of various animals. After Tony had walked in on a herd of zebras (the children) attempting to take down a lion (Thor), he had asked why they didn't just take a trip to the zoo. So Loki, Thor, Tony (complete with a glamour thanks to Loki) and the kids had been driven to a nearby zoo to see real life animals by Tony's driver, Happy. Happy seemed, ironically, unhappy, however Loki believed that he liked him.

Sleipnir had been obsessed with the Zebras, he had tapped to Loki in their code that they were awfully strange coloured horses, Hel had asked every zoo keeper she saw where the dragons were (seemingly unable to accept that Midgard did not have dragons, or perhaps, Loki thought, she has just been doing it for attention – he wouldn't have put it past her), Fenrir had spent a while roaring at the lions and they had had to make a quick exit when Jormungandr had become distraught by the snakes locked up and had released them all with his magic, much to the terror of the general public. As they ate ice creams in the car park Loki had reassured Jormungandr that the snakes were, actually, very happy while Tony had laughed and said they needed to watch Harry Potter.

"He took the money," Tony said in relief, sliding down into the seat in between Loki and Jane. "Even if he told anyone I doubt they'd believe him, but I'd still like to keep the more insane journalists away from my house now that you're all here."

Loki nodded in agreement. "Thank you," he said seriously.

"No problem," Tony shrugged. "We need to keep the kids out of the limelight if we want them to have a normal life."

Loki grinned and kissed him, ignoring the kids, who were sounding over-dramatically disgusted. Loki was fairly sure that the TV was to blame for such a reaction, but was pleased to see that they were picking up the habits of Midgardian children, even if it was annoying. It stood them in good stead for starting school, which Loki hoped they would do in the next few months; it wouldn't be good to keep them away from those in their same developmental stage.

Loki was delighted by how well Tony and the children were getting along, and how much he cared for them. Really, he was like a second father to the kids, though neither of them had said as much yet.

Loki thought back to their arrival on Midgard, several weeks after the Battle of Jotunheim. However much all of them had wanted to flee the situation, unfortunately, they had had responsibilities.

Before they'd gone to sort things out at SHIELD – they'd been away for weeks, they'd figured that SHIELD could wait a few hours – Tony had delighted in showing the kids round the mansion and into their new room (and the playroom, and the children's library, and the new indoor swimming pool complete with a wide range of inflatables). He had introduced them to Jarvis (who did not even try to hide his delight that they were all safe) and the bots. All of them had fallen in love with the bots immediately, 'they have souls' Hel had whispered reverently.

Afterwards, they had left the children and Thor under the supervision of Jarvis and in the company of the bots and gone to sort out the mess at SHIELD.

Loki and Tony had arrived at a SHIELD base to discover a frantic Jane and Erik had assembled an entire team of SHIELD scientists to build the Einstein-Rosen Bridge, Fury had been prepping various governments for invasion and intergalactic war, and Darcy had used all of her provisional notes on Asgard-Midgard politics to spearhead a diplomatic team that might have been able to bargain or forge a treaty with Asgard. Despite the fact that Darcy was undeniably underqualified, having not even finished her college degree and having done an internship under an astrophysicist, she had somehow managed to convince the World Security Council that she was the best suited for heading the team. Loki was incredibly proud of her.

After they had teleported to SHIELD, the screaming had stopped, and they had convinced everyone that despite their dropping into a top secret government facility they were not, in fact, a threat, they had been embraced by a relieved Erik and Jane (and later Darcy after several agents had been sent to fetch her), and had reassured their friends that yes, they were still alive, and yes, Odin was dead.

Due to their rocky beginning Loki had been shocked to see that even Erik had been crying at their reunion, and this had made him sob harder into his friends' embrace. Never had he thought that he would ever be accepted like this, that he would ever have friends… no _family_ , this good.

That night had been a long one. They were debriefed multiple times by many different people, and had had to convince Fury and the World Security Council that yes, the threat was really gone, and no, this was not just a ploy from Asgard to get Earth to lower its defences. Tony had also swung into action and immediately shut down the building of the Einstein-Rosen Bridge, stating that as he hadn't died he wouldn't let SHIELD have any more access to his arc reactor technology and the plans for the E-R bridge until he had verified that they weren't doing anything shady with his arc reactor. So far, it appeared that they hadn't, and they were getting ready to continue building the Bridge again, but Tony continued to be distrusting of them, near paranoid that SHIELD had to be hiding something from him.

"You okay?" Tony's voice sounded softly in his ear and Loki snapped out of his reverie.

"Yes," he replied. "I'm fine, I was just thinking…about our return here, how lucky we were, it could have ended so much worse."

"Wow, way to lighten the mood," Darcy said. Tony threw a dumpling at her head.

Loki rolled his eyes and zoned into the children's conversation.

"But what would you name a goat, Auntie Jane?" Jormungandr questioned.

"I don't know…" Jane shrugged. "Einstein?"

"Have you considered taking a break from your work?" Loki questioned drily. Jane glared at him.

"When are we going to pick the goats up from the farm, father?" Fenrir asked.

"Tomorrow afternoon, I expect," Loki replied. "After Grandmother has visited for our meeting with the World Security Council."

Over the chorus of cheers from the children Thor spoke, "I am greatly looking forward to choosing goats from the farmer tomorrow. I really do believe, brother, that I can be a better person if I search for the things that bring me joy which are not only the pursuits of a warrior." He turned to Jane. "We shall see if one of them looks like an 'Einstein'."

Jane blushed and actually giggled. Loki had been worried that Jane would find Thor's planned pastime a dealbreaker, but strangely enough this apparently made him more appealing. 'Sexy farmer' Loki thought he had caught Jane saying to Darcy, but honestly, it was bizarre to think of one of his best friends thinking about his brother in such a way, and Loki rather thought he wanted to erase that phrase from his mind.

"Thor, you are already a better person," Loki said, somewhat belatedly. "...And I think we all are, at least a bit."

"Loki," Darcy said, taking advantage of the slightly awkward silence that followed and sounding uncharacteristically nervous. "Could you read over my draft proposals once more before the WSC meeting?"

"Of course," Loki said, even though really there was no need. Loki was used to seeing Tony, Jane and Erik working, but he had been shocked to see Darcy so driven. The drafts of Darcy's team's proposals of a treaty between Midgard and Asgard were now being used as the basis of a new potential treaty between Asgard, Midgard and Jotunheim, and Darcy was absolutely determined that it should be done well, and it should be done properly.

Furthermore, Frigga was going to be at the meeting tomorrow, and Darcy had managed to engage Frigga in several discussions about politics during Frigga's frequent visits to Earth, so Loki thought that Darcy was probably worried about impressing her too. His mother seemed to have taken a shine to her and had been very interested in what she had to say. There was now quite the possibility that Darcy would be travelling to Asgard to serve as a political advisor if Frigga did indeed try to implement a more democratic system in Asgard, which at the moment seemed likely. Asgard itself was currently in a state of semi-chaos as Frigga tried to control those who opposed their regicide, but things had calmed down since the aftermath of the Battle of Jotunheim and Loki had no doubt that his mother could handle it.

"Thanks dude." Darcy said.

Loki grinned.

-M-

Later that evening, after he had put the children to bed, Loki sat alone on the roof, staring up at the stars and feeling his hair flicker gently in the breeze. He had left Tony in the kitchen, arguing with Fury. Jane and Erik were in the lab, because scientific discoveries didn't stop for sleep, and Thor was probably with them, soaking up Jane's presence. He thought Darcy was in her room, probably reading through her proposal again, though hopefully taking everyone's advice and just watching Netflix. Whatever she was doing he was sure there was music going in the background.

"Did you put him on hold?" Loki asked, knowing his boyfriend was walking up behind him (and wasn't it amazing to actually be able to _feel_ Tony's presence now) but not bothering to turn around.

"I did," Tony said, and Loki could hear the smirk in his voice. Loki smiled, feeling a surge of affection for the man he loved, he was just so... Tony.

"Watching the line blink is satisfying," Loki agreed. "Let him stew for a while, no one's getting the rights to your technology."

"Damn right," Tony said, lying down beside him and looking up at the stars, the light from his arc reactor casting a comforting blue glow around them.

Loki looked fondly down at it, sending Tony a questioning glance and waiting for him to nod slightly, smiling reassuringly, before placing his hand on the light.

"I have said this many times," Loki said, once again delighted to note that Tony no longer seemed to have any adverse reactions to him touching the reactor, "but you are incredible. You've created magic with your technology, the power in this…"

"You talk like you don't defy physics on a regular basis," Tony replied, pulling Loki down to kiss him. It was short but passionate and meaningful and Loki knew that no matter how many times they kissed he would never grow tired of it. Never had he ever expected that he would deserve to find someone as wonderful as Tony Stark.

"We'll find life out there, won't we, if we're right and the Bridge will let us go anywhere in the universe. It will change everything," Tony said after they'd broken apart and Loki had lain down beside him, stringing their hands loosely together. They both gazed up at the stars, staring thoughtfully at the twinkling lights that now seemed to spell possibility. "What do you think it will be like?"

"I think it will be incredible," Loki said. "And you were right, you know, the first time we met. We certainly will permanently alter humanity's perception of the universe…"

And Loki knew, as Tony kissed him again, that together they could do anything, and together they would be unstoppable. He was home, and he was safe, and in that moment the ghosts of the past could do nothing against the certainty in his heart. He was not a monster, he was loved, and most importantly he was free.

* * *

 ** _So, um, there it is! I hope you all enjoyed it and you found the ending satisfying._**

 ** _I don't usually ask for reviews but given that it's the last chapter it would be really awesome if you guys could tell me things like what you liked most, what you didn't like so much - tho please nicely, and what you hope will be in the sequel - after all, it can only help me create something that you guys would be even happier to read. You guys could even write in your native language if you'd prefer to, and I'll google translate (unless it's French, which I'm near fluent in)._**

 ** _I will be posting the first half of the 1st chapter of the sequel here just after I post the sequel, so that should make finding it easier. Alternatively, you could follow me and then follow the sequel when it comes out and then unfollow me if you want, which idk might be easier and reduces your chances of missing the last email from TMUTB._**

 ** _Finally, another massive thank you from me, you guys are literally the best and you make this a joy to write! *hugs*_**

 ** _Next up: Basically, everyone's trying to have a quiet life on Midgard (except Darcy, who's in Asgard being badass with Frigga). While Loki, Tony, Jane and Erik (and Bruce Banner) work on the E-R Bridge and the negotiations between Midgard, Asgard and Jotunheim, the children start school. Tony attempts to bring a confused Steve Rogers up to speed with the 21st century and get over the jealousy/hatred of him caused by his father._**

 ** _Unfortunately, Hydra think that Earth taking its place amongst the other Nine Realms would ruin their plans, so they decide to strike while they still can (enter: the Winter Soldier)._**

 ** _Featuring: a more more fluff than in this fic (but still angst as Loki, Sleipnir etc. need to heal from Odin), Thor, Laufey, Hela and the rest of the Avengers._**

 ** _Before I forget, if anyone wants to join me on tumblr, you can find me as stardustloki. I recently got a twitter where I am Chouette_Hibou (it basically means Owl Owl in French) and my name is Magical Stardust._**


	24. A Beginning

_**Hi everyone, I am back after way too long.**_

 _ **Here's the first part of the first chapter of the sequel. To read the whole chapter please go to my profile and click 'A Quiet Normal Life' :)**_

 **Chapter One – A Beginning**

 **Does Tony Stark Have a Heart?**

 _Do we finally have the answer to the question that's haunted his fans and victims alike since his teenage years? Photos taken by a fan may finally uncover the truth of the playboy's hidden feelings…_

 _Mr Stark, 40, was spotted yesterday evening at Stonehenge, England, uncharacteristically trying to keep a low profile and holding hands with who we can only assume to be his lover._

 _As we're sure most of our readers are aware, the so-called 'Merchant of Death' has hit headline news in recent months, this time accused of using his blood-money to run experiments resulting in the illegal growth of an eight-legged horse. Ms Virginia "Pepper" Potts, the recently crowned CEO of Stark Industries, has assured us these images were doctored, but some doubt still remains._

 _Our readers may be shocked to learn that Mr Stark was not spotted with Ms Potts in our source's photos, but with someone very different._

 _That someone was… (wait for it!)… a man!_

 _Yes, you read that right. Take a look at our exclusive snaps below and see for yourselves!_

 _[x] - [Stone cold heart?: Mr Stark, sporting a neat and stylish pea coat, can be seen holding hands and laughing with a young, dark-haired man]_

 _But that's not even the best part! His new lover seems to have children, one of whom spent most of the visit on Mr Stark's shoulders._

 _[x] - [Enjoying the view: The child, who shares the same long, dark hair as his father, points to the ancient stones while his siblings play-fight around him]_

 _So, what do you, our readers, think? Has the world's most famous billionaire finally softened his iron heart, and accepted his identity as a gay man? - Here at CelebNews we're wondering if all of his flings with girls were really covering up for something - Or is this just the latest of his publicity stunts? Will he leave these children abandoned and his lover broken-hearted after a brief fling?_

 _His investors might have been able to overlook his clearly overcompensating playboy nature and his 'superhero' alter-ego that only leads to death and destruction, but the idea that 'Iron Man' might be having a little too much fun with another man certainly isn't going to go down well._

 _One thing's for certain, whether due to Stark's self-absorbed nature or the stress on Stark Industries, this mysterious stranger certainly better be prepared to have his heart broken!_

"J, delete this from their servers and give my lawyers a pay-rise, I don't want this article to see the light of day tomorrow and I especially don't want those pictures released," Tony ordered, sighing and rubbing a hand over his face. This was the last thing they needed, especially with the children due to start school tomorrow. Loki, who was currently standing beside Tony, gazing at the hologram of the article and looking pale, wanted the children to stay out of the limelight, and having grown up in the public eye himself, Tony couldn't agree more.

"This is… fairly brutal," Loki said, grimacing.

"Honestly, a biphobic article accusing me of murder and speculating about my love-life is hardly the worst thing that's been written about me," Tony said flippantly, trying to lighten the situation. "At least it was meant to be published tomorrow, we have time."

Loki nodded. "That's true. Thank you, Jarvis, for finding it."

"I'm sorry I convinced you not to put a glamour on me," Tony sighed, placing a comforting hand on Loki's shoulder.

"It's fine," Loki said. "I was using my magic the whole time we were there and I had been sure that no one had taken too much notice of us. We were both at fault, and there is no harm done, not yet."

But is it fine? Tony asked himself. Loki was looking rather grim, and how did he know that Loki was telling the truth? He didn't seem too bothered, and he had seemed to mean what he had said, but he knew for a fact that due to Odin's abuse Loki was excellent at hiding his true feelings, at least, when he wasn't feeling panicked. What if the article was right, what if he wasn't good enough for Loki? What if Loki thought the same?

No, he hadn't cared what the paparazzi thought about him since he was a teenager and he wasn't going to start now. He wouldn't break Loki's heart, things would be fine.

They had definitely taken a risk on their trip to England, Tony had been tired of wearing a glamour, wanting Loki and the children to be able to see him for himself for once. Loki had agreed, only slightly reluctantly (admitting that he did prefer to see his boyfriend's face when they went out together) and they had spent the afternoon walking around one of the most magical sites in Britain.

Tony hadn't been able to feel anything himself, but he had delighted in seeing the reactions of Loki and the children at being in such a magical environment. Loki, who always appeared to be at least slightly stressed (PTSD and an anxiety disorder would do that to you), had seemed to relax as he walked around the ancient stones, and the children had been even more excitable than usual, which was saying something.

After they'd walked around the stones multiple times they had gone to see the archaeological exhibits. Everyone had been very proud of Sleipnir, who had asked the staff multiple questions about the site in his strangely-accented English (spending 500 years as a horse had made speaking difficult for Sleipnir, but he had come along at an incredible speed) and had commented that the bodies buried there were older than most Asgardians. Hel had added darkly that they'd certainly lasted longer than Odin had. Tony hadn't bothered to stifle his laughter.

They had had a wonderful day together, celebrating the last day before the children began school, and Tony (and Loki, apparently) had been so sure that they'd been safe, and that no one had recognised him (or had at least those that had had been awkwardly British about it, and pretended not to, or convinced themselves that he was just someone with an uncanny likeness).

He looked back at the article that Jarvis was currently scrubbing from the gossip magazine's servers. "Jarvis, after you're done with the servers, hack into this woman's electronic devices, see what she's done with any copies of the pictures, delete them and do the same for whoever she's sent them to. Oh, and the person who took the pictures and sent them to the journalist, give them a mild virus."

"My pleasure, Sir," Jarvis said, and Tony was pleased to see that when he looked over at Loki again his boyfriend was smiling slightly in amusement.

"Before you delete all of them," Loki added, sounding much less grim than before – huh, perhaps Tony should send mild viruses to more people (he had worried that Loki, who got anxious about even slightly inconveniencing people, would object to this, but he supposed that when something happened to his children, it was different. Tony could relate to that, he was honestly surprised he wasn't feeling more vengeful right now). "Do you think you could enhance the copies of the pictures and save them, we didn't take nearly enough photos today."

"Of course, Loki," Jarvis replied and Loki lit up.

"That's a brilliant idea," Tony said, and he meant it, at least now they would get something slightly positive out of this mess.

Loki grinned at him, then kissed him, just because he could.

"Do you think you will be sleeping tonight?" he asked. "Only it's 1am and we need to be up early tomorrow."

Tony grimaced. His insomnia said no, he wouldn't be sleeping, but all the same he knew he should probably rest before their meeting at SHIELD tomorrow, and Loki's presence was calming. "I could try." He shrugged.

"Thank you," Loki said, and Tony supposed that would make staring at the ceiling for five hours worth it.

 _ **So, there's the first part. Again, the rest of the chapter can be found on my profile under 'A Quiet Normal Life'.**_

 _ **I just want to say thank you again to all my readers, reviewers, favouriters and followers. You guys have all made this a joy to write, so thank you all so much.**_


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